Passenger plane ‘swarmed by police’ at Barcelona airport after ‘bomb threat’

‘Escorted by warplanes’

The plane, a Turkish Airlines Airbus A321 was en route from Turkey to Spain when it declared an emergency mid-air.

Flight TK1853 had just passed Sardinia when it sent a squawk code, often used alert to air traffic controllers of an incident onboard (usually medical).

After sending the squawk, the plane was met by Spanish and French warplanes over the Mediterranean, per El Nacional [in Spanish].

The aircraft circled the sea three times before finally landing at Barcelona El Prat Airport at around 11am this morning.

The plane was then escorted to a safe area before passengers disembarked, being met by armed police on the tarmac, as seen in footage by passengers.

The Mirror reported that the plane, carrying 148 passengers and seven crew, landed "with the possibility of an artefact inside".

A sniffer dog then inspected each suitcase as people lined up outside the plane, although the Mirror reports no explosives were found.

The incident does not seem to have disrupted airport operations.

The alert is believed to be a false alarm and protocol has been described as standard procedure.

The Catalan government said it has activated a special plan used for aeronautical emergencies to "monitor the risk situation on a flight landed at El Prat."

Initial reports shared in El Nacional say that a passenger had created an internet hotspot on board the plane and configured the name to include a bomb threat.

This triggered an appropriate response by the crew to initiate air security procedures.