Germanwings Plane Evacuated After Bomb Threat

A Germanwings plane that was due to fly from Germany to Italy was evacuated late Sunday after a bomb threat. Air traffic controllers at Cologne Bonn airport alerted the pilots of Flight 4U826 to Milan's Malpensa airport after German police received a bomb threat, Reuters reported.

“The tower contacted the pilot immediately who then aborted taxiing and directed the aircraft to a position provided for in such cases,” the airline said in a statement, according to the Guardian. All 132 people, including 6 crew members, were safely evacuated from the plane, which was then searched by authorities with specially trained dogs. The examination of the aircraft and baggage yielded no results.

The low-cost carrier -- fully owned by Lufthansa -- said it would arrange for the passengers to be flown to Milan on a different aircraft on Sunday night.

“Germanwings is making every effort to arrange alternative transportation for passengers to continue their onward journey. The airline regrets any inconvenience caused,” the company reportedly said, adding that the plane had been cleared for future flights after the bomb scare.

The bomb threat comes less than a month after a Germanwings plane crashed into a mountainside in France, in an incident later revealed to be a deliberate act by co-pilot Andreas Lubitz. Since the incident, which killed all 150 people on board, the airline has been criticized for its pilot-screening process after it was revealed that Lubitz suffered from depression, and its cockpit access procedures have come under scrutiny as well.