Greek airliner forced back by bomb threat
A Greek airliner was forced to return to Athens International airport today just minutes after takeoff following a bomb threat, authorities said.
The Olympic Airlines plane, carrying 108 passengers and 12 crew from Athens to Munich via Thessaloniki, left Athens at 9.15am local time but was forced to return following an anonymous call to company offices at the Athens Eleftherios Venizelos airport saying there was a bomb on board.
Passengers were evacuated and emergency personnel searched the plane for four hours but nothing suspicious was found. The flight was expected to resume its journey.
Last September, a similar threat forced an Olympic Airlines plane bound for New York to land at Stansted airport, near London while a few days later another flight to New York from Athens was diverted to Ireland.
