An Air France jet, flying the same route as a plane involved in a disaster almost exactly one year ago, was forced into an emergency landing yesterday after a bomb scare.
A woman called Rio’s international airport to claim that a bomb had been placed aboard Air France flight 443 from the Brazilian city to Paris.
An Air France Airbus flying the same route crashed on June 1 last year off the northern coast of South America, killing all 228 people on board.
The cause of that accident has not been established.
In yesterday’s incident, the Air France jumbo jet, transporting 405 passengers and 18 crew members, was forced to make an emergency descent into Recife, only three hours into its flight.
“The crew of flight AF 443 Rio-Paris was informed during the flight that there could be an explosive device on board,” said an Air France spokesman.
The bomb threat was radioed to the plane, which landed at around 3:45 a.m. local time.
Recife airport was closed for approximately one hour before the landing so that the emergency services could prepare.
A search of the aircraft turned up no explosives, the spokesman continued. The plane resumed its journey to Paris last night.
