False alarm on an Emirates plane which returned to Athens airport

An Emirates plane, which left Athens on Thursday for New York, had to turn back and return to Athens to “be checked”. Shortly before the return of this plane, another Emirates aircraft bound for Dubai had been checked Thursday evening at Athens airport before taking off.

An Emirates Airline Boeing 777-300ER registered A6-EQC with 228 passengers and 18 crew members on board, which took off Thursday evening from Athens airport for New York Newark as flight EK209, had to return to Athens to “be checked”, but it was only a false alarm, said a police source.

“After information from foreign authorities that a suspicious person was on board this aircraft, the Greek police ordered its return to Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos to be checked,” a spokesman for the police told AFP.

Accompanied by two Greek Air Force F-16 fighter jets, the Emirates plane turned back about 45 minutes after taking off from Athens airport, after entering a holding pattern over Sardinia and then flying over a different route that avoided terrain. It landed at around 22:00 local time (UTC+2) at Athens International Airport on Thursday. According to a police source, it was the United States authorities who warned the Greek police of the presence of a “suspicious person” on board the aircraft.

After a police check on all the passengers, as well as on the plane, “the person to whom the information related has not been identified or any other suspicious element“, said a statement from the Greek police. According to an airport source, the aircraft should have left Friday for New York, but in fact, it returned to Dubai on that very day. Passengers on flight EK209 have been rebooked to travel on 11 November and provided overnight accommodation.

Another plane checked

Shortly before the return of this plane, another Emirates aircraft operating flight EK210 from New York Newark to Dubai via Athens (Boeing 777-300ER registered A6-EQF) was checked Thursday evening at Athens airport before taking off. Authorities did not identify anyone suspicious and eventually, the aircraft left Athens four hours and 10 minutes late.

Man identified

Greek police identified the man at the centre of a security alert on an Emirates flight forced to return to Athens. He is a Turkish citizen living permanently in Greece for a number of years.

In an email sent to the US embassy in Athens, it was stated that the person in question was boarding one of the two evening Emirates flights from Athens.

Emirates flight EK209 to Newark returned to Greece’s capital two hours after taking off and landed safely. Emirates flight EK210, which was scheduled to fly to Dubai, was stopped in Athens before takeoff.

Police said information received about a potentially suspicious passenger was not confirmed by the inspections.