Saudi Airlines plane diverted in Indonesia due to false bomb threat

On Saturday, June 21, Saudi Airlines flight SV5688 was diverted to an airport in western Indonesia following a bomb threat. The flight was carrying 376 Haji pilgrims from Jeddah to Surabaya, on the island of Java. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said that air traffic controllers in Jakarta were informed of a bomb threat aboard the flight and quickly directed the airplane at the Indonesia Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, North Sumatra. According to Asri Santona, head of the regional airport security, officers had conducted a thorough search of the airplane, deeming the bomb threat to be false. The plane and the passengers are scheduled to resume the flight to the intended destination. It is the second incident that happened in a week: early on Tuesday, June 17, a second flight carrying 442 Haji passengers from Saudi Arabia to Jakarta was diverted to Medan after authorities had received an email containing a bomb threat.