Bomb threats force emergency landings in Chile, Crete, Peru

A string of bomb scares have forced emergency landings of five passenger jets in three locations.

Passenger planes have made emergency landings in three locations after bomb threats.

Five planes have made safe emergency landings after a series of bomb threats.

Four of the planes made landings in South America after a string of bomb threats to the Chilean Civil Aviation Authority, touching down in Chile and Peru.

Two of the planes were operated by LATAM Airlines and two by Sky, a low-cost Chilean airline, the aviation authority said.

The planes are undergoing checks of passengers, baggage, and their cabins and holds by police and airport security, it said.

Earlier, a German passenger jet carrying 250 people was forced to make an emergency landing on the Greek island of Crete Thursday after a bomb scare, local police said.

“The pilot asked the control tower at Chania airport after receiving information that suggested there were explosives on board,” a police official in Crete told AFP.

“The plane was evacuated and the passengers are safe and sound.” Initial reports suggested the Boeing 753 aircraft, owned by German carrier Condor, had taken off from Egypt and was en route to the German city of Dusseldorf.

In May 2016 an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo crashed into the Mediterranean off the coast of Crete, killing all 66 people on board.

Investigators determined that a fire broke out in or near the cockpit of the Airbus A320 before it plunged into the sea, and Egyptian officials said traces of explosives had been found on bodies of the victims.

— Reuters, AFP