German plane from Oman lands in Kuwait over bomb threat

Pilot requests emergency landing; passengers and crew evacuated but no explosives found

By AP 15 January 2017, 12:15 pm

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Illustrative photo of an Airbus A330 aircraft. (Wikimedia/Public domain)

KUWAIT CITY — A Germany-bound Eurowings passenger flight from Oman landed in Kuwait on Sunday over a bomb threat but no explosives were found on board, authorities said.

The plane from Salalah heading to Cologne was Eurowings flight No. EW117, an Airbus A330-203.

The state-run KUNA news agency of Kuwait said 299 passengers on board were evacuated over the incident. It said the plane’s captain had requested an emergency landing in Kuwait City.

In a statement, Eurowings said there were 286 passengers on board the flight, which was being flown by SunExpress on its behalf. The discrepancy in passenger numbers could not be immediately resolved, though the KUNA figure may have included flight personnel.

Eurowings said the flight was a charter for tour company FTI.

The plane was diverted to Kuwait “for security reasons and in consultation with the relevant authorities,” Eurowings said in an emailed statement, without elaborating.

Eurowings is a subsidiary of German air carrier Lufthansa.