A PASSENGER jet was forced to make an emergency landing after a note saying “bomb on plane” was found in the bathroom.
The chilling message scrawled on toilet paper was discovered on board the Vistara Boeing 787 on a flight from Mubai to Frankfurt.
It was urgently diverted to Turkey in the mid-air emergency and managed to land yesterday afternoon.
The aircraft carrying 237 passengers and 14 crew members touched down at Erzurum Airport.
Bomb disposal teams rushed to the runway to deal with the apparent threat as the plane was evacuated.
Two experts and two search dogs were going through the plane while the airport was closed to all departures and landings.
A flight attendant is reported to have discovered the note in lavatory prompting the alert.
Luggage was searched on board – but thankfully the bomb threat was discovered to be a false alarm.
It is unclear if the hoax note was left by a passenger on the flight in a twisted prank.
Security officials checked the passengers after the bomb scare.
Families on board faced being left stranded – but an alternative plane was sent by the airline.
Passengers complained about being stuck for six hours with children and were left sleeping on chairs.
In a statement, Vistara said: “All necessary checks have been conducted and the customers, along with the crew and aircraft, have been cleared by the security agencies.
“Since the crew have exceeded their duty time limitation, we [sent] an alternative aircraft with a fresh set of crew.
“All efforts [were] made to minimise inconvenience to customers, including offering them refreshments and meals
“We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to them due to this unforeseen situation.”
Initially following the discovery of the threat, the aircraft planned to land at an airport in Ordu, northern Turkey.
But was rerouted due to construction work to the neighboring city of Trabzon before authorities redirected it to Erzurum.
Erzurum was chosen because of the less congested air traffic there.
All departures and landings at Erzurum were suspended until 9pm local time.
