(MENAFN- Gulf Times) A Turkish Airlines flight heading to Brazil was forced by a bomb threat to land in Morocco on Monday, the airline's second scare in two days, but was cleared to fly on when no explosives were found.
Flight TK15 had departed from Istanbul and was headed for Sao Paulo when a note with the word "bomb" was found in a lavatory, a spokeswoman said.
The Boeing 777 with 256 passengers on board declared an emergency and diverted to Casablanca, landing at around 1230 GMT. No explosives were found and the aircraft was cleared to resume its flight.
The flight was "diverted to Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport," the company said in a statement.
"The necessary investigation onboard has now terminated and it has become clear that the notice in question was untrue."
The state-run Anatolia news agency said that a written note warning of a bomb had been found in one of the plane's toilets.
It was found by cabin crew who alerted the pilot who decided to ask for permission to land at the nearest possible airport.
Turkish Airlines said the plane would now continue its journey to Sao Paulo.
"Our passengers will be retaken onboard and the flight will continue to Sao Paolo after the termination of cleaning and refuelling processes and after the provision of necessary permissions," it said.
On Sunday, a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul bound for Tokyo turned back shortly after take-off when a note reading "C4 Cargo" was found on the lavatory door, Turkish media said. C-4 is a variety of plastic explosive. No explosives were found on that aircraft, either.
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