▲ Ryanair passenger plane
A series of bomb threats were reported on seven passenger planes flying over European airspace on the 3rd (local time), prompting emergency landings and the scrambling of fighter jets.
A Boeing 737 MAX operated by Poland's LOT Polish Airlines, traveling from London Heathrow Airport in the UK to Warsaw Chopin Airport, triggered a bomb threat alert at 9:54 AM on this day and landed seven minutes later at Modlin Airport near Warsaw.
Authorities closed Modlin Airport and inspected the interior of the aircraft, but no explosives were found.
The 181 passengers on board were transported to Chopin Airport by bus after safety measures were completed.
Bomb threats were also reported on a Scandinavian Airlines passenger plane flying from Copenhagen, Denmark, to Warsaw on the same morning, which landed at Chopin Airport and underwent a search.
Bomb threats were likewise reported via email and other means for passenger planes operating routes from Manchester, UK, to Murcia, Spain; Lisbon, Portugal, to Rome, Italy; Dublin, Ireland, to Rome; Bergamo, Italy, to Sofia, Bulgaria; and Dublin to Sofia.
The passenger plane bound for Rome landed under the escort of Italian Air Force fighter jets.
Among these flights, the aircraft on the Bergamo-to-Sofia route was operated by Hungary's Wizz Air, while the rest were operated by Ireland's Ryanair.
Searches revealed no explosives, and no group has come forward to claim responsibility.
It has also not been confirmed whether there is any connection among the seven bomb threats received on this day.
On the Greek island of Syros, a search operation was launched after an unidentified individual claimed that explosives had been planted on the Panama-flagged cruise ship Crown Iris, which was scheduled to depart for Haifa, Israel.
Following an attempted co-pilot hijacking incident on a flydubai passenger plane traveling from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Tel Aviv, Israel, on September 30, reports of bomb threats and air hijackings on flights operating to and from Europe have continued to occur.
Also yesterday, a Wizz Air passenger plane taking off from London Luton Airport and heading to Sofia, Bulgaria, was forced to divert due to a bomb threat and landed at Ferenc Liszt International Airport in Budapest, Hungary.
After confirming through a search that there were no explosives, Wizz Air dispatched the plane back to Sofia.
Last month, hijacking and bomb alerts were issued for passenger planes operated by Turkey's Corendon Airlines and Austrian Airlines, respectively, leading to emergency landings.
Following yesterday's hacking incidents targeting refrigeration systems in supermarkets across various European nations, suspicions have emerged as to whether the bomb threats targeting seven passenger planes in a single day could be operations by Russia aimed at destabilizing Western society.
Eric Schouten, CEO of the Dutch security intelligence firm Dagma, stated, "From railways to food infrastructure, the ongoing situation involving hacked refrigerators and various types of operations aligns with Russia's narrative aiming to plunge Europe into chaos."
The cyberattacks, which remotely raised the temperatures of supermarket refrigerators and freezers up to 55°C (131°F), were found to have occurred yesterday in at least 10 countries, including Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, Estonia, Ireland, Finland, Italy, Portugal, and Germany.
Last month, similar hacking incidents occurred sequentially at supermarkets across France and at six grocery stores located within U.S. military facilities in the United States.
Tom Hegel, a researcher at security firm Sentinel, noted regarding the three waves of hacking incidents that "they incur low costs while inflicting massive economic damage on the targets," and claimed it is highly likely that all of them were perpetrated by organizations linked to Russia.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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