Bomb threat on Air China plane ahead of Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony

[Josh F]

AIR China has received an email threat to bomb its aircraft and crash planes into the site of the Beijing Olympics.

Air China's Japan office said the threat was: "We are telling Air China: immediately suspend operations of all flights. Otherwise we will bomb the planes. We will crash the airplanes into the site of the Olympics."
An officer said two Air China airplanes bound for Beijing and Shanghai were under inspection at Japan's Narita Airport.

An official at Japan's Transport Ministry confirmed the bomb threat appeared to be linked to the Olympics.

"Air China received an email saying a bomb will be exploded unless all Air China flights are suspended," the official, Toshiro Tachimoto, said.

One Air China flight bound for Chongqing via Shanghai was forced to return to Japan's Nagoya airport due to the threat, an airport official said.

"Flight 406 had to return after the bomb threat. No one was injured. Once the safety of the airplane is confirmed, the plane will take off soon," Akiko Noguchi, a spokeswoman for Central Japan International Airportm said.

It was unclear how many people were aboard the plane at the time.

Air China officials in Tokyo and Beijing were not immediately available to comment.

The threat came as China enforced sweeping security measures across Beijing to protect the Olympic Opening Ceremony, deploying thousands of armed police and locking down areas of the city centre.

Beijing airport was set to shut down just ahead of the 8.00pm (10.00pm AEST) start of the Opening Ceremony at the Bird's Nest stadium to be attended by world leaders such as Chinese President Hu Jintao and US counterpart George W. Bush

AAP

[NickN]

Thats some pretty heavy duty stuff. Although with Chinas human rights record there is bound the be plenty of disgruntled protesters who may be unstable enough to try something.

[Simon L.]

Follow-up:

On Aug. 10, police arrested a 33-year-old man over a bomb threat to Air China's Tokyo office last week after the South Korean resident in Japan turned himself in to police in Kanagawa Prefecture.

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Full report can be viewed here

Regards.

[Simon L.]

Looks like Air China's Paris office also received a similar threat letter...

French authorities have opened an investigation into an anonymous threat against Chinese national carrier Air China, a spokesman for the Paris prosecutor's office said on Aug. 12.

Air China's Paris office received a letter, written in English, threatening reprisals if Muslim prisoners in China were not released.

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Source: http://en.carnoc.com/list/8/8341.html