A China Airlines (CAL) flight bound for Sydney was grounded for safety checks because of a bomb hoax, airport police said yesterday.
CAL said it was informed by the Aviation Police Office at 10:30pm on Friday night that the office received a phone call claiming there were explosives on the 11:55pm flight CI051 bound for Sydney.
Safety checks immediately got underway and all passengers went through another round of checks.
No explosives were found on the plane, the Aviation Police Office at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport said.
The flight carrying 285 passengers departed for Sydney early yesterday at 2:46am after a nearly three-hour delay for the search.
In June, after boarding a China Airlines aircraft at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport bound for Shanghai, a Taiwanese man claimed to have a bomb in his luggage.
The man later said he had only been joking. No explosives were found in his luggage. The flight was delayed for more than 40 minutes, and the man later faced charges under the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法).
Also in May, a China Airlines flight bound for Shanghai from Taipei was forced to divert to Hangzhou after a passenger falsely claimed he was carrying explosives in his luggage. The passenger later claimed he made the comment as a joke. The plane eventually took off again for Shanghai — without him, after he was detained in Hangzhou for questioning.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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