An Egypt Air airliner en route from Madrid to Cairo made an emergency landing at Athens airport after a bomb alert but no explosives were found, police said early Sunday.
Greek authorities quickly evacuated the 85 passengers and nine crewmembers of the Airbus A320 upon landing late Saturday and then thoroughly searched the aircraft.
"The result of the inspection of the plane is negative," police spokesman Leftheris Oikonomou told reporters following a four-hour search by Greek special services.
The aircraft made the emergency landing at Eleftherios Venizelos outside Athens at 9:00 pm (local time) after "a member of the crew found... a note on a piece of paper in the plane's toilets on which was written the words 'Found the bomb?'," said Oikonomou.
The police spokesman said that a preliminary inquiry had been opened and that the airplane's passengers and crewmembers would be questioned.
The plane had been given permission to land in Athens after Egyptian authorities put out an alert to airports worldwide.
The grounded plane would leave for Cairo as soon as possible, said Oikonomou. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
