The misinterpretation of foreign lettering on a soft drink can sparked the emergency landing of an Air Mauritius airliner with nearly 200 people on board at Melbourne Airport yesterday, police have revealed today.
Airline staff discovered the can of drink at the rear of the plane about an hour into flight MK943’s journey to Mauritius yesterday afternoon.
Police yesterday said the word ‘‘bomb’’ was written on a piece of paper taped with masking tape to the can, prompting the pilot to turn around over Mount Gambier and return to Melbourne.
However a Victoria Police spokeswoman today said no offence had been detected ‘‘due to an initial misinterpretation of foreign lettering on the print of the can’’.
She said the word was printed on the can itself and not handwritten, as originally reported by police yesterday.
The spokeswoman could not say what language the word was written in, or what the brand of the drink was. However police have confirmed no explosives were found in the can or on the plane, and no threat was intended.
‘‘No one has been arrested in relation to the incident,’’ the spokeswoman said.
‘‘Police believe the captain of the aircraft acted appropriately with the safety of those on board as a priority.’’
Fairfax has contacted Air Mauritius had been contacted for comment.
The plane was carrying 181 passengers and 13 crew when it landed safely at 2.55pm yesterday and taxied to a remote part of the airfield
The plane was met by a full response from airport firefighters, with 13 appliance trucks at the end of the runway.
0 comments:
Post a Comment