Bomb threat urge Greek plane carrying parliamentarians to land

An Olympic Airlines flight carrying Greek European parliamentarians to Strasbourg made an emergency landing in Munich on Monday morning after a bomb threat was reported, German and Greek officials said.

The Boeing 737, traveling from Athens to Strasbourg, France, landed at 10:45 a.m. (0845 GMT) at a special area of the airport set aside for emergencies, spokeswoman Anja Tomic said.

Munich airport spokesman Peter Pruemm said the plane belonged to Greece's Olympic Airlines, and that "the pilot apparently said there was a bomb threat." He said the 137 people on board had been safely evacuated shortly after the landing.

Athens airport spokeswoman Marina Papagorgiou said 136 people were aboard, including 11 Greek members of European Parliament, which was to open a session in Strasbourg later Monday. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy in numbers.

The plane, flight number OA145, departed at 9:30 a.m. local time (0630 GMT) and was over Croatia when the threat came in at 10:10 a.m. (0710GMT), according to Greek officials.

Greek police said a bomb threat had been made to police headquarters, but that the flight number given in the threat did not exist. The plane that landed in Munich had the closest flight number.

"We have informed our consular authorities in Munich, which ... sent staff to the airport and are cooperating with German authorities," Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Giorgos Koumoutsakos told state-run NET television.

"I hope it was a hoax, but we are looking into the issue and we hope to have it cleared up soon," he said.

Giorgos Kassimatis, a passenger on the plane, told NET that "we have landed and everything is fine. There was a bomb threat so that's why we landed in Munich."