The pilots of the Jeddah-to-Jakarta flight made the diversion after receiving a bomb threat via email from an unidentified sender on Tuesday morning.
After a thorough search of the Boeing 777 aircraft, no bomb was found, according to Asri Santosa, Head of the Transport Ministry's Region II Medan Airport Authority Office.
"The sweeping concluded at 6:47 p.m. local time and yielded no results of any indication of bombs or other explosives. All passengers and crews are evacuated to nearest hotels," he noted in a written statement on Tuesday evening.
During the screening process, all passengers and crews, and later their baggage and the aircraft's cargo compartment were checked by a joint team comprising officers from the police's bomb disposal team, the military, aviation security, and the airport emergency unit.
Once the aircraft was declared safe, it was cleared to continue its journey to Jakarta with its 442 passengers and flight crew on Wednesday morning.
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He stated that operations at the Kualanamu International Airport during the inspection proceeded normally, as the aircraft was moved to an isolated area that did not disrupt airport activities.
Meanwhile, Director General for Air Transport of the Transportation Ministry Lukman Laisa commended all parties involved for their effective handling of the bomb threat.
"We laud the flight operator, Kualanamu Airport security, the local government, and all parties whose quick action ensured a safe and conducive situation during the critical moment," Laisa stated.
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Translator: M Harianto, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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