| Submit your comments on this article |
| Europe |
| Greek plane given all-clear after Saddam bomb alert |
| 2007-01-01 |
| A Greek aircraft bound for Athens from New York was given the all-clear after a dawn emergency landing in Ireland on Sunday, prompted by a telephone tip-off that there was a bomb on board “for Saddam (Hussein)”, the executed Iraqi leader. The Olympic Airlines plane, carrying 183 passengers and 12 crew, was told by its airline to land at the nearest airport following the tip-off and touched down at Shannon, western Ireland, at 4:20 am GMT. Those aboard disembarked while the aircraft, an Airbus 340, was searched. “Unknown individuals speaking English with an Arab accent warned of the presence of a bomb on the plane, saying it was ‘for Saddam’,” an airline spokesman said, adding that two calls had been received at Athens airport early on Sunday morning. The plane was searched by police who found nothing and gave it the all-clear at around 10:30 am GMT, a spokeswoman for Shannon airport said. “They’re going to tow the aircraft back, let on the passengers and get going,” she added. |
| Posted by:Fred |