Bomb Threat Forces Greek Plane to Land in Munich

April 23, 2007
Greek police said the bomb threat named a flight that did not exist. The plane that landed in Munich had the flight number closest to the one given.

BERLIN -- A bomb threat forced an Olympic Airlines flight carrying Greek European parliamentarians to make an emergency landing in Munich on Monday, officials said. No explosives were found during a search of the plane.

The Boeing 737, traveling from Athens to Strasbourg, France, landed at an area of the airport set aside for emergencies, spokeswoman Anja Tomic said.

Munich airport spokesman Peter Pruemm said the plane belonged to Greece's Olympic Airlines, and that "the pilot apparently said there was a bomb threat." He said the 137 people on board Flight OA145 were safely evacuated.

German police, with bomb-sniffing dogs, found no explosives during a search of the plane, but were continuing to search the plane's cargo and baggage, police spokesman Stefan Kirchner said.

"We were told about the bomb threat, but everyone remained calm," Stavros Lambrinidis, a Socialist member of the European Parliament, told Greece's state-run NET television.

Greek police said the bomb threat named a flight that did not exist. The plane that landed in Munich had the flight number closest to the one given.

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Associated Press Writer Derek Gatopoulos contributed to this report from Athens.


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