Batik Air Bomb Threat Prompts Emergency Landing At Indonesian Airport

A Batik Air flight carrying at least 122 passengers made an emergency landing at Sultan Hasanuddin Airport in Makassar on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia, on Friday morning, because of a suspected bomb threat, Reuters reported, citing a government official.

The plane, which was travelling from the eastern island of Ambon to the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, was later cleared by a police bomb squad. According to authorities, no bomb was found on board the passenger jet.

“At this time the plane has been cleared by police and all the passengers are safe and have been evacuated,” Tommy Soetomo, the director of airport operator Angkasa Pura I, told Reuters.

According to a spokesman for the country’s transport ministry, he got a call from Sultan Hasanuddin Airport giving him information about a bomb on the Batik Air flight, Reuters reported.

“Details on how they found out is unclear yet, I'm still waiting for information. The police is in charge of that now,” the spokesman said.

Lion Air, the parent company of Batik Air, also said in a release that an official of its subsidiary in Ambon had received a text message warning of a bomb on the plane while it was en route to Jakarta, the Wall Street Journal reported.