Turkish plane from JKIA hit by bomb scare, lands in Khartoum

A Turkish Airlines plane bound for Egypt on Thursday made an emergency landing in the Sudanese capital Khartoum over a bomb scare. 

The plane was flying from the Kenyan capital Nairobi. 

Sudanese civil aviation authority spokesman Abdul Hafiz Abdul Rahim told the Africa Review that the Boing 738 aircraft had 107 passengers of different nationalities. 

“Today, Thursday, at 7.30am Sudan local time, Khartoum airport was notified by the Captain of the Turkish Airlines plane Number 608 that there was a possible bomb device on board as reported by a British passenger,” Mr Rahim said. 

“Accordingly, the authorities at the Khartoum International Airport allowed the emergency landing and immediately evacuated the plane and experts did a thorough search, but found no suspected explosive device on the plane,” he explained. 

Mr Rahim said further that Sudanese authorities were interrogating the British passenger who reported the matter, in the presence of a representative from the UK embassy in Khartoum. 

The Sudanese official pointed out that neither the Khartoum airport nor the Sudanese airspace had been closed due to the incident.