Bomb scare forces flight carrying 442 pilgrims make emergency landing

A plane carrying hundreds of Hajj pilgrims back from Saudi Arabia was diverted in Indonesia on Tuesday after an email bomb threat was sent to authorities, Indonesia’s aviation body said.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said it received a report from Indonesia’s airport operator “regarding a bomb threat sent by an unidentified person via electronic mail”.

The email at 07:30 am (0030 GMT) contained a threat to “blow up” Saudia Airlines flight SV 5276, which was flying from the Saudi city of Jeddah to the Indonesian capital Jakarta, it said in a statement.

After 10:00 am, the pilot diverted the plane from its destination of Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, a city on Sumatra island in western Indonesia.

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The flight was carrying 442 Hajj pilgrims, including 207 men and 235 women, it added.

“Upon identifying security and safety threats, the pilot decided to divert the landing to the nearest airport,” said InJourney Airports, Indonesia’s airport operator.

A transport ministry official told AFP the plane was still in Medan, and Flightradar24 showed the plane there.

The airport evacuated the pilgrims, and a bomb disposal unit swept the plane for explosive devices, the aviation body said in its statement.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.