Nothing suspicious on Turkish Airlines flight; aircraft cleared for take off

New Delhi, July 7

The Istanbul-bound Turkish Airlines flight that made an emergency landing in New Delhi after a written threat was found in its toilet has been cleared for take off after nothing suspicious was found in the aircraft Airbus A330 passenger jet carrying 134 passengers on Tuesday.

"Nothing was found...the aircraft has been cleared for take off," Civil Aviation Secretary RN Choubey told reporters.

The plane, which was coming from Bangkok, landed at 1.41 pm and was thoroughly searched taken in an isolation bay, sources said.

"The pilot was informed of a message written with lipstick on the mirror of one of the plane's washrooms that there was a bomb in the cargo hold of the aircraft, leading the pilot to seek Nagpur ATC's permission to land the aircraft there. The pilot was directed to approach the Delhi ATC," the sources said of the threat that appears to have been a hoax.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said NSG and bomb disposal squad searched the plane after it was taken to an isolated bay.  —  PTI