Emergency landing at El Prat airport due to a false bomb threat on a flight
The presence of explosives was ruled out, and the reason for the alert was the name of an internet access point inside the plane.
A false bomb threat triggered an extraordinary police—and even military—deployment at El Prat Airport on Thursday. The alert was triggered after a passenger created an internet hotspot on board the plane and configured the network name to include the word "bomb." However, at this point, everything points to it having been a prank. The incident began inside a Turkish Airlines plane that had departed from Istanbul and was headed to Barcelona. When the aircraft was between France and Italy, around 10:00 AM, a possible bomb threat was identified, activating all security protocols. The captain contacted the Barcelona control tower to alert them of the emergency, using the familiar code "Mayday," and two military fighter jets—one French and one Italian—took off to monitor the aircraft until it reached El Prat. In fact, Italy and France requested access to Spain's airspace, a request that the Ministry of Defense has granted, according to Spanish government sources. The landing was in a secluded area, and the passengers were able to disembark on their own, remaining in a secure zone. The flight (TK1853 - THY1853) departed Turkey at 9:00 AM and arrived at El Prat Airport shortly after 11:00 AM. A search was then initiated, involving explosives experts and dogs that sniffed every suitcase on board. However, nothing suspicious was found. An investigation is underway.
The Civil Guard has already opened an investigation, under the direction of the courts in El Prat de Llobregat. Several knowledgeable sources consulted by ARA confirm that an open internet access point was detected on board the aircraft, its name containing the English word "bomb." A passenger reportedly noticed it while checking available networks and alerted the crew. Sources at Turkish Airlines have confirmed this, indicating they will likely take legal action against the person responsible. As of now, the Civil Guard has not made any arrests and is trying to determine which passenger opened the network with that name. There were 148 passengers and seven crew members on board. The police will likely take statements from everyone. For the moment, everything points to a tasteless prank that has prompted Civil Protection to activate the Aerocat plan.
In fact, it's a fairly widespread prank. On February 7th of last year, on a flight from Austin to Charlotte in the United States, a passenger also created a Wi-Fi network with the name: "There's a bomb on board." An emergency landing also occurred, and they had to inspect every corner of the aircraft, finding nothing suspicious. In 2017, Turkish Airlines suffered an almost identical incident to the one in Barcelona: on a flight between Nairobi and Istanbul, someone set up a Wi-Fi network with the name "pump on board"(bomb on board, in Catalan) on a Wi-Fi network. The flight had to divert and land at another location for checks. Everything pointed to a prank, and the perpetrator was never found.
Normal on other flights
Numerous officers from the Civil Guard, the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police), the National Police, the El Prat local police, and the Generalitat Fire Department were deployed to El Prat Airport. However, this entire operation has not affected normal airport operations, and other flights have continued to take off and land, as everything was carried out in a secluded area.
In this regard, sources linked to the operation assure that the coordination has worked and everything has been carried out following strict protocols. These same sources admit that threats and warnings frequently occur at El Prat Airport, but that Thursday's incident was exceptional. From the outset, the alert was taken seriously and a maximum security operation was implemented.