Passenger’s Wi-Fi name triggers bomb scare, forces Turkish Airlines emergency landing

A Turkish Airlines formation was forced to marque an exigency landing successful Barcelona Thursday greeting aft a rider created a hoax menace by mounting up a Wi-Fi hotspot suggesting determination was a "bomb threat" connected board, according to hose officials.  

The exigency protocol was alerted erstwhile Flight 1853 was already approaching its intended designation astatine Barcelona-El Prat Airport from Istanbul. Euronews said the Airbus A321, which was carrying 148 passengers and 7 unit members, was directed to a designated country for inspection upon landing. 

"​​It was detected that a rider had created an in-flight net entree constituent and named the web successful a mode that included a weaponry threat," Yahya Üstün, elder vice president of communications astatine Turkish Airlines, said successful a station connected X.

Simpleflying reported that the formation was cruising implicit the Mediterranean erstwhile a formation unit subordinate noticed an alarming Wi-Fi sanction that reportedly said, "I person a bomb, everyone volition die."  

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Crews enactment up passenger's luggage connected the tarmac astatine Josep Tarradellas-El Prat Airport successful Barcelona, Spain January 15, 2026. (REUTERS/Albert Gea)

Necessary information procedures were instantly initiated pursuing the alert, Üstün said. 

The craft was then escorted by 2 combatant jets, 1 Spanish and 1 French, during the exigency protocol, Euronews reported.  

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A sniffer canine inspects a enactment of luggage astatine an airport. (Reuters)

Following the aircraft’s harmless landing, effect crews inspected the level and worked to place the rider who created the threatening Wi-Fi hotspot name, hose officials said. The cognition progressive Spanish authorities specified arsenic unit from the Civil Guard, the National Police and Catalonia’s determination constabulary and occurrence services, according to Euronews.

According to footage from the scene, a canine was deployed to analyse the passenger's luggage connected the tarmac. 

However, "no irregularities were found" pursuing a thorough inspection, according to officials.  

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A Turkish Airlines level is inspected by constabulary aft a mendacious weaponry menace pursuing an exigency landing astatine Josep Tarradellas-El Prat Airport successful Barcelona, Spain connected January 15, 2026. (REUTERS/Albert Gea)

"Our aircraft's instrumentality formation volition beryllium carried retired aft the completion of rider boarding," Üstün said. 

Operations astatine Barcelona-El Prat Airport resumed usually pursuing the explosive scare, Reuters reported.

Reuters contributed to this report.