KLM Flight 461 from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv was cleared after a bomb threat forced added security checks during a scheduled stop in Bucharest on Thursday, one of at least 22 European flights hit by threats in a single day. The flight was ultimately cancelled overnight after a technical problem surfaced while the aircraft was taxiing for departure, and passengers were put up in hotels, Dutch news agency ANP reported, citing a KLM spokesperson.
Flight 461 left Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) at 4:40 p.m. Thursday for Tel Aviv, with a scheduled technical stop in Bucharest for a crew change. While the aircraft was on the ground there, a bomb threat against the flight came in at around 7:30 p.m. Passengers were taken off the plane, went through security checks in the terminal, and were asked to point out their luggage. Security teams swept the aircraft and found nothing suspicious.
Pilot: Israel Required the Added Checks
In a video shared by CBN Unfiltered, the pilot told passengers the checks were an Israeli requirement. "Because of the bomb threat on this flight earlier, Israel made it very clear that without extra checks made on this airplane, like the security checks you went through in the terminal and pointing out your luggage, this airplane would not have been allowed into Israeli airspace," he said. "Fortunately, nothing was found, and the airplane is completely safe for its remaining parts towards Tel Aviv."
Passengers then reboarded for what was meant to be a flight of about two hours and 15 minutes to Tel Aviv. CBN Unfiltered reported that the aircraft returned to the gate over a new, separate issue, and that maintenance teams were investigating. KLM later said a technical problem had emerged while the aircraft was taxiing for departure, and the flight was cancelled; passengers were accommodated in hotels and replacement flights were being arranged, ANP reported.
A Wave of Bomb Threats Across Europe
The threat against Flight 461 was one of at least 22 bomb threats against European passenger flights on Thursday alone, after roughly 10 more earlier in the week, according to Politico. No explosives were found in any of the cases. An Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Rome diverted to Evreux, France, under French Air Force escort, and Italian fighter jets escorted a Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome. Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith said the threats appear to be coordinated, something he said he has not seen before. The Dutch counterterrorism office said the number of threats in quick succession has its special attention.
The incident comes weeks after a flydubai flight to Tel Aviv made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, which Israeli authorities treated as a terror incident, with Israel expected to introduce new security restrictions for foreign carriers flying into the country.
H/T to CBN Unfiltered
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