Two PIA Planes Grounded after Bomb Threats

Two flights out of Lahore, Pakistan were grounded on Wednesday after anonymous e-mails were received claiming that bombs were onboard.

The latest, a Pakistan International Airlines flight with 164 passengers on board, landed at Kuala Lumpur airport just minutes after another PIA flight, bound for Britain, was forced to make an emergency stop in Istanbul, the airline said.

The Malaysia-bound flight landed at 9:24 p.m. local time on Wednesday after the bomb threat was received mid-air.

At 8:45 pm (1345 GMT) Malaysia Airports received information from Pakistan International Airline Headquarters informing of an aircraft bomb warning for Airbus 313 Flight PK898 from Lahore, airport authorities said in a statement.

The flight PK898 safely landed at 9:24pm. The airline confirmed a total of 164 passengers, 3 cockpit crew and 10 cabin crew on board, the airport said.

The plane was then parked in an isolated bay at the airport while police investigated.

In the earlier incident, a similar bomb alert forced the Manchester-bound flight with 346 passengers to land at Istanbul's Atatuk Airport. Their alert came as the plane cruised over the Bulgarian capital Sofia.

Earlier television footage from Turkey's private Dogan news agency showed a PIA airliner on the tarmac at Ataturk while passengers were evacuated and bussed to the terminal. Fire engines and ambulances were seen nearby.

We received emails about the presence of bombs on two PIA flights. Since the flights had taken off already, the pilots were directed to land at the nearest airport. One flight bound for Manchester landed in Istanbul and the second flight touched down at Kuala Lumpur, a senior PIA official told AFP.

The official added that no bomb had been found during the searches of the aircraft.