A passenger on board a Frankfurt to Seattle flight wrote out a bomb threat on the mirror in the lavatory and the Condor Airbus A330 made an emergency diversion to Reykjavik.
Flight DE2032 had left Frankfurt on Monday afternoon. It was over Greenland when the decision was made to get the aircraft down on the ground in Iceland. Passengers on board were told the aircraft had an “operational error” but they were also instructed that they would not be permitted to use the bathrooms (“out of order”).
Passengers detailed the ordeal on social media of being patted down by officers on arrival, mug shots taken, and bags searched. Everyone was then held in a hanger for hours. Around midnight they were allowed to decamp for hotels before returning to the airport six hours later to fly on to Seattle using a different aircraft.
@winniethejroo what a crazy experience.. still here in iceland will update soon wish me luck
All pax patted down and then sent to a shed to be guarded by cops with MP5's . They did allow use of two bathrooms for 266 people while they took mugshots of everyone. Lines across the building. No real info at this time just stay in your spot. 2/ pic.twitter.com/lADfVbxcqV
— God damn the pusher man (@BillSmi92852819) July 26, 2022
Bomb Threat… According to the article,. Bomb was written mirror. Local Icelandic Police did a detailed has search of everyone's carry-on and personal belongings. Around midnight they sent us to hotels. No food just. A room. I bought a bag of chips in the hotel lobby. 4/ pic.twitter.com/2iVWPdDu04
— God damn the pusher man (@BillSmi92852819) July 26, 2022
Still in Keflavik after the diversion for the bomb threat on Condor DE2032 last night. Hopefully we'll hear more soon. pic.twitter.com/MTH3xq2QU9
— God damn the pusher man (@BillSmi92852819) July 26, 2022
According to Condor Airlines, no actual threat existed.
Purely as a precaution, the aircraft was diverted to the nearest airport, Keflavik, where it was investigated in accordance with applicable protocols and processes…Guests and crew were accommodated in hotels in Iceland. Condor sent a standby aircraft to Iceland to bring guests from there to Seattle. The flight arrived safely in Seattle at around 3:15 pm.
At least passengers were able to earn Alaska Airlines miles for the flight.
These “threats” should just be assumed to be fake and ignored. If someone really put something somewhere, he or she won’t telegraph it. 99.999999% of these calls, wifi names, and notes are just hoaxes or things designed to be punitive to passengers, the airline, or because a family member wants to keep someone away for a little bit longer while they hide what they did or are doing.
It’s understandable to scrutinize public buildings (schools) because they are on the ground and more accessible to wrongdoers but airliners are already behind a security screen. It’s dumb to force a plane to land because of some hoax call or some note.
At this point you’d think they’d have cameras on the plane recording any type of incident — they could then at least readily identify who was the last person who entered that bathroom.
Coming to an aircraft near you………………Crapper Cams.
Gary – nit picking but, as someone that has been to Iceland a number of times, I can’t resist. They DIDN’T divert to Reykjavik they diverted to Keflavik which is the international airport for Iceland and around 40 miles (or so) from Reykjavik. The story even referenced Keflavik so just lazy not to use the correct airport name. BTW, there is a Reykjavik airport which has flights to other cities in Iceland and a few flights to Greenland but that is it.
@Alan You don’t need em IN the restroom, just looking down the aisle. You can then see who was last to enter
Although Crapper Cam is a pretty good name.
@AC – i disagree, I (1) know where the airport is geographically located, (2) chose to reference the major city that it serves.
Exactly what Jackson says. This is beyond ‘security theatre’. Nobody who carried a bomb on a plane would telegraph their intentions, thus ensuring that it wouldn’t go off. This is just silly panic. And treating the passengers as convicts makes it even worse.
“Everyone was then held in a hanger for hours.”
That must have been uncomfortable. Hangar refers to a place to park aircraft, while hanger refers to the tool used to hang clothes