Bomb scare forces Air France plane to land
An Air France flight to Israel was re-routed to Basel-Mulhouse airport on the Swiss border after fears that a bomb could be on the plane, the airline said Thursday.
The captain of the Airbus 320 which left Paris Charles de Gaulle airport Wednesday at 7:13 pm (1813 GMT) for Tel Aviv with 123 passengers on board was re-routed "on suspicion that an explosive device could be on board", said Air France.
The change was a precautionary measure, it added in a written statement.
The Airbus landed at Basel-Mulhouse "safely" at 8:24 pm.
"Authorities fully searched the plane but nothing abnormal was discovered," said Air France.
Passengers were accommodated in hotels and left Mulhouse on Thursday in the early afternoon. They arrived in Tel Aviv at 5:35 pm (1535 GMT).
Basel-Mulhouse airport was closed for an hour and a plane from Berlin was re-routed during the search, a spokeswoman for the airport said.
Press reports said that a mobile phone which had not been switched off may have caused the incident.
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