Azul flight makes emergency landing in Brasília after bomb threat and mobilizes Federal Police.
An aircraft that departed from São Luís bound for Campinas was diverted as a precaution. Police ruled out explosives and are investigating the origin of the threat.
247 - An Azul airline flight had to be diverted to Brasília International Airport on Thursday night (7), after a suspected bomb on board. The information was confirmed by the Federal Police and the airline itself, reports the g1.
The plane, which was operating flight AD4816 and departed from São Luís (MA) bound for Viracopos Airport, in Campinas (SP), declared an emergency during the journey and landed in the federal capital at around 8:45 pm. Azul informed, in a note, that the measure was taken “preventively, due to security issues involving the threat of an artifact on board”. The Federal Police ruled out the existence of any explosive after a sweep carried out on the aircraft, completed at around 2:45 am this Friday (20).
According to the company, all 170 passengers and crew members disembarked safely. Azul also guaranteed full support to customers after the aircraft was released by the authorities. "Measures like these are necessary to ensure the safety of its operations, a fundamental value for Azul," the company emphasized.
The Federal Police, in turn, confirmed in a statement that they were called upon to investigate the threat and conducted an anti-bomb operation on board. The investigation into the authorship of the false threat is ongoing. "Investigations into the authorship of the threat are ongoing," the agency stated.
The concessionaire Inframerica, responsible for managing Brasília's airport terminal, activated its contingency plan. In a statement, it reported that there was no impact on other airport operations, which has two parallel runways — one of which was temporarily suspended as a precaution, but landings and takeoffs continued normally on the other runway.
Images from the FlightRadar24 platform showed that the aircraft made an abrupt turn in the airspace before approaching the Brasília airport, indicating an emergency decision.
The passengers remained in a "security room" at the terminal for part of the night while giving statements to the Federal Police.