(Repeats without changes to story text)
SEOUL, April 11 (Reuters) – A Korean Air
passenger jet made an emergency landing at a Canadian military
airbase after a call centre in the United States received a
threat by telephone late on Tuesday, the airline said.
Korean Air flight 72, which was en route to South Korean
capital Seoul, diverted to the Comox base on Vancouver Island in
Canada’s Pacific province British Columbia, soon after takeoff
from Vancouver, the airline said in a statement released on
Wednesday in Seoul.
“The (Korean Air) US call center received a call that there
was a threat on board the aircraft,” Korean Air said in a
statement. A Korean Air spokeswoman could not confirm whether it
was a bomb threat, as earlier reported by Canadian media.
The plane, a Boeing 777, had 147 people including 134
passengers on board, the airline said.
Two U.S. fighter jets, which took off from Portland, Oregon,
intercepted it and shadowed it until it landed at the Canadian
base, the Pentagon said in a statement.
“The airline will decide about the continuation of the
flight after discussion with the airport and related
authorities,” Korean Air said.
(Reporting by Sung-won Shim in SEOUL, Missy Ryan in WASHINGTON
and Janet Guttsman; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)
