Bomb threat grounds SIA flight in Johannesburg

A Singapore Airlines flight was grounded briefly in Johannesburgs airport in South Africa on Tuesday following a bomb threat.

The Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) confirmed it received a call from someone claiming that there was a bomb on Singapore Airlines Flight SQ478.

Acsa told South African news outlet TimesLive that there were 54 passengers on board.

The aircraft landed at OR Tambo. Emergency services were activated, along with fire and rescue and the South Africa Police Service, it said.

It said police with K-9 units swept through the aircraft, and did not find any bomb.

The aircraft was declared safe and allowed to leave Johannesburg. It reached its destination, Cape Town, safely.

In October 2022, a 37-year-old American man received a stern warning after claiming that there was a bomb on board an SIA flight from San Francisco to Singapore. He was one of 208 passengers on board SQ33 in September 2022.

His false claim led to the deployment of Republic of Singapore Air Force F-16C/D fighter jets, which escorted the plane to a remote location at Changi Airport.

Officers from the K-9 units were mobilised to investigate the threat, which led to more than three hours of delay before passengers could disembark from the plane. More On This Topic Man gets 4 weeks jail for assaulting SIA cabin crew member; bomb threat charge withdrawn How RSAF personnel responded to bomb threat on SIA flight in the middle of the night