Security personnel found nothing unusual aboard a Delta Air Lines plane at Ben-Gurion International Airport following an anonymous bomb threat on Tuesday morning, according to the Israel Airports Authority.
All passengers left the plane safely after it was moved to a remote runway, the authority said in a Hebrew-language statement posted to X. Operations at the airport had returned to normal, it added.
The aircraft, arriving from the United States, had been directed to the isolated area after an anonymous report that a bomb was aboard, Israeli media reported earlier.
The warning came in as the plane from was approaching Ben-Gurion, according to Israel’s Channel 12 News.
Security officials believe the threat was a hoax but took no chances, and airport security personnel and Israel Police searched the aircraft to rule out any potential threat, according to the report.
Late last month, an Omani co-pilot on a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv was neutralized as he tried to take control of the plane. He sought to crash it into the passenger terminal at Ben-Gurion Airport to kill as many people as possible.
The aircraft was carrying 182 people, including 174 passengers, most of them Israeli.
The 29-year-old suspect, Hamam al-Hammami, is currently detained in the United Arab Emirates, which is leading the investigation into the terrorist attack, with the expected participation of Israeli authorities.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog last week sent a letter to flydubai pilot Capt. Smit Machchhar, expressing the Jewish state’s “deep gratitude” for his role in averting a catastrophe after he was severely wounded by al-Hammami.
“Your ability to find the strength to rise above the pain, to combat the immediate threat to your life, and to operate sound judgment demonstrates the strength of your character and the great valor you possess,” Herzog wrote.
Meanwhile, an Ethiopian Airlines cargo plane was denied entry to Israeli airspace after authorities discovered that a pilot aboard was an Indonesian citizen, Ynet reported on Tuesday.
The aircraft, which departed Addis Ababa early Monday, turned back and dumped fuel into the sea, according to the report. The pilot was replaced in Ethiopia by one authorized to enter Israel.
Israel has no diplomatic relations with Indonesia. Israeli authorities received the crew list only after takeoff, despite instructions requiring foreign airlines to submit it beforehand.
