Brazil: Air France jet makes emergency landing after bomb threat; all aboard safe

Brazil: Air France jet lands after bomb threat

RIO DE JANEIRO — An Air France passenger jet from Rio to Paris that made an emergency landing in northeastern Brazil with 405 passengers aboard due to a bomb threat was scheduled to take off again Sunday night after no explosive was found on board.

The delay in the plane’s departure from the northeastern city of Recife was necessary because regulations require that the crew receive a certain amount of rest, an Air France spokesman in Brazil told The Associated Press by telephone Sunday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.

Solange Argenta, a spokeswoman with the Brazilian government’s airport authority, Infraero, said Sunday that authorities inspected the plane and its luggage “and no explosive was found.”

The Air France spokesman said take off from Recife was now scheduled for 8:10 p.m. local time (23.10 GMT).

All 405 passengers and 18 crew members were safely evacuated from Air France Flight 443 on Saturday night, said Infraero spokesman Jorge Andrade.

The bomb threat was phoned in to Rio’s international airport by a female voice about 30 minutes after the plane took off, the Air France spokesman said. The control tower contacted the jet and the decision was made to land in Recife, he said.

In Paris, Air France spokesman Jerome N’Guyen confirmed a full inspection of the plane had been completed and nothing suspicious had been found. Passengers were taken to nearby hotels until the plane could take off again.

Argenta said the flight originally took off at 4:20 p.m. local time (3:20 p.m. EDT; 1920 GMT) and that the plane landed in Recife at 7:53 p.m (6:53 p.m. EDT; 2253 GMT).

The jet taxied to a secluded area of the airport and those on board were quickly removed, Infraero said in a statement. The airport was closed for about 30 minutes, and then reopened.

Flight 443 was on the same route as an Air France jet that crashed in June 2009 off Brazil’s northeastern coast, killing all 228 on board. While no definite cause has been determined in the crash, authorities have repeatedly ruled out foul play.

Associated Press Writer Nicole Chavranski in Paris contributed to this report.