Turkish Airlines plane lands in Spain after 'threat'

A Turkish Airlines flight has made an emergency landing at Barcelona's El Prat Airport after a passenger created an in-flight wireless network whose name contained a bomb threat, an airlines spokesperson says.

As the flight from Istanbul was approaching its destination in Barcelona "it was detected that a passenger established an in-flight internet access point and set the network name to include a bomb threat," the spokesperson, Yahya Üstün, said.

As a result, the aircraft made an emergency landing.

Firefighters deployed five crews as a precaution, and local police units from El Prat de Llobregat were also mobilised.

According to flight-tracking data, the plane flew in holding patterns off the Catalan coast for about 20 minutes before landing.

Passengers on the flight disembarked on their own and were taken to a safe area, authorities said.

Spain's Civil Guard police force said it is investigating the incident, and added that the airport was operating normally.

with EFE