A domestic flight operated by budget carrier Jetstar Japan Co. made an emergency landing on Saturday morning at an international airport in central Japan following a bomb threat, according to the transport ministry, but police have found no explosive device.
Five passengers sustained minor injuries while evacuating via the airplane's inflatable slides following its arrival at Chubu Centrair International Airport in Aichi Prefecture at 7:41 a.m. No one was hospitalized, according to the airline operator.
The threat was made at 6:18 a.m. when someone called the information center at Narita airport near Tokyo, and said they had planted a bomb on Jetstar Flight 501, according to the airline operator, adding the caller did not speak in Japanese.
The bomb threat appeared to come in from a call originating in Germany, with the caller demanding to speak with the "manager," Jetstar said. It was unclear to whom the caller was referring.
The airline operator received the information from Narita airport at 6:53 a.m., or some 30 minutes after the threat came in, and subsequently informed the pilots of the plane, which was bound for Fukuoka from Narita, of the bomb threat, but the plane had already departed Narita at 6:36 a.m.
After being informed, the pilots diverted the plane, which had 136 passengers and six crew members on board, to Chubu airport, Jetstar said.
According to a passenger, there was an in-flight announcement that the plane would make an emergency landing. Upon touchdown, another announcement was made to say a bomb may have been planted inside the plane.
Some 60 flights scheduled to depart from or arrive at Chubu airport were canceled following the incident, which took place at the start of a three-day weekend in Japan. About 30 more flights were delayed for an hour or more.
Police cars and ambulances could be seen on the closed-off runway, while in the airport, passengers on canceled flights, as well as those from the threatened aircraft, waited in long lines for refunds.
A passenger said he initially thought the emergency landing was due to a bird hitting the plane or a fuel shortage.
Another passenger, 25-year-old Tomoya Sohara, said his heart started racing, and he thought, "Oh my god! I can't believe this kind of thing is happening."
He added that he felt uneasy until it was his turn to evacuate via one of the airplane's inflatable slides.
Some other passengers said they were asked to wait in a room in the airport terminal for around four hours after getting off the aircraft.
The closed-off runway at Chubu airport reopened at 12:15 p.m.
Local police in Chiba Prefecture, where Narita airport is located, said it is investigating the incident on suspicion of forcible obstruction of business.
Hiroyuki Kobayashi, a former Japan Airlines captain and an aviation expert, said the captain of the aircraft would not have taken off at Narita airport if he had been made aware of the bomb threat and said an investigation is needed to determine if the information could have been relayed sooner.
Jetstar Japan is under the wing of Jetstar Group, which provides low-cost fares for travelers across the Asia-Pacific region and is partly owned by Japan Airlines Co. and Australia's Qantas Group.
Currently, it operates 16 domestic routes and one international route.
