Plane Passenger Allegedly Includes ‘Bomb Threat’ in Hotspot Network Name, Forces Flight to Make Emergency Landing

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A Turkish Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Barcelona, Spain, after a reported "bomb threat" appeared in a passenger's hotspot network name
The incident occurred during a flight from Istanbul to Barcelona on Thursday, Jan. 15
After a thorough search of the aircraft, authorities determined there were no explosive and subsequently cleared the alert

A Turkish Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing on Thursday after a passenger allegedly included “bomb threat” in their WiFi network name.

Turkish Airlines flight 1853 from Istanbul to Barcelona, Spain, departed shortly before 9 a.m. local time on Thursday, Jan. 15, according to FlightAware. As the Airbus A321 neared Barcelona’s El Prat Airport, the aircraft looped around twice off the eastern coast of Spain.

Adria Puig/Anadolu via Getty A Turkish Airlines flight make an emergency landing in Barcelona, Spain. — Adria Puig/Anadolu via Getty
A Turkish Airlines flight make an emergency landing in Barcelona, Spain.

As the plane approached its final destination, “it was detected that a passenger had set up an in-flight internet access point and configured its network name to include a bomb threat,” according to an X post from Turkish Airlines’ senior vice president of communications, Yahya Üstün.

The executive said flight crews subsequently initiated the “necessary procedures” in accordance with “flight safety protocols.”

After landing, Üstün said the proper authorities conducted a search of the aircraft “within the framework of international aviation security rules.”

David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty Passengers board the Turkish Airlines plane after the — David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty
Passengers board the Turkish Airlines plane after the "bomb threat" was cleared.

In a follow-up post, Üstün shared that “no irregularities were found” during the search.

“Efforts have been initiated to identify the passenger in question and to carry out the legal process,” he wrote. “Our aircraft’s return flight will be carried out after the completion of passenger boarding.”

In a statement shared with the Associated Press and Reuters, the Spanish Civil Guard confirmed nothing was found during a thorough inspection of the aircraft. The alert was subsequently deactivated.

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The department added that police have launched an investigation to determine who was behind the hoax.

Neither representatives for El Prat Airport nor the Spanish Civil Guard in Barcelona immediately responded to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

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