US jets scrambled over Korean Air bomb threat

SEOUL—US fighter planes escorted a Korean Air jet carrying 146 passengers and crew to a Canadian military base due to a bomb threat against the flight, officials and the airline said Wednesday.

A Korean Air Boeing 777 is parked on the runway of a Canadian Forces base in Comox, British Columbia after an emergency landing on Tuesday. The plane, en route from Vancouver, British Columbia to Seoul, diverted to Comox on Vancouver Island under escort by two US fighter jets after the airline's US call center received a call about a threat on board. AP

Korean Air flight 72 from Vancouver bound for Seoul was diverted to the Comox base on Vancouver Island on Tuesday after an anonymous caller said a bomb had been planted on the plane, the South Korean flag carrier said.

The call was made to the carrier’s US office 25 minutes after takeoff, the airline said in a statement, adding the Boeing 777 plane had 134 passengers and 12 crew members on board.

The aircraft landed at the airbase around 110 kilometres (70 miles) northwest of Vancouver without incident and was undergoing safety checks, it said.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said two US F-15 fighters were scrambled out of Portland, Oregon to intercept the plane “due to a potential threat associated with the aircraft”.

“The Korean Airliner was intercepted, diverted and the aircraft was shadowed until it landed at Canadian Forces Base Comox,” NORAD said in a statement.