An Airbus A319 operated by Spanish low-cost carrier Volotea had to make an emergency landing on November 19th due to a false bomb threat. Flying from Bilbao to A Coruña, sources report that the aircraft landed at its destination and was taken to a remote stand where passengers were disembarked.
![Volotea_Airbus_A319-112_EI-FMT](https://simpleflying.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Volotea_Airbus_A319-112_EI-FMT-1000x667.jpg)
Emergency landing close to destination
According to the airline’s own post on Twitter (embedded below), a bomb threat was made to flight V7 3538- a service between Bilbao (BIO) and A Coruña (LCG). Flight tracking data indicates that the aircraft involved was an Airbus A319 registered EC-MTD.
FlightRadar24.com indicates that this service usually departs Bilbao at around 06:45 local time. The typical arrival time at A Coruña for this 276 mile (444 kilometre) flight is 07:50. On November 19th, however, this flight departed one minute ahead of schedule and landed 25 minutes earlier than scheduled, touching down at about 07:25. Thus, we can attribute the early arrival time at its regular destination to the bomb threat, which would have expedited the aircraft’s decent towards A Coruña.
Volotea informa de que el vuelo V7 3538 que cubre la ruta BIO-LCG ha aterrizado de emergencia a las 7.25h. hora local en el aeropuerto de A Coruña (LCG) de emergencia por amenaza de bomba a bordo.
— Volotea (@volotea) November 19, 2021
Threat called in to emergency line
Meanwhile, Aviation24.be reports that the threat was sent through Spain’s 112 Emergency line (the equivalent of the Canadian/American “911”), which then transferred it internally to both airports.
The destination airport, upon being notified of the threat, activated emergency procedures, directing the A319 towards a remote stand. Guardia Civil (Civil Guard) agents conducted a search of the cabin and the aircraft’s cargo hold and found no evidence of explosives onboard. At or after 10:00, at least two and a half hours after landing, Guardia Civil declared the inspection over and concluded that the call was a “false alarm.”
Aviation24.be also notes that the 105 passengers and six crew members onboard disembarked normally at A Coruña airport following the emergency procedures.
![BIO-LCG](https://simpleflying.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/map-5.gif)
About the aircraft involved
At 17 years of age, the A319 registered EC-MTD has had a long history of service- although with just two carriers The aircraft had its first flight in 2004 and initially flew for Frontier Airlines registered as N935FR. A lease from GECAS, Frontier withdrew the aircraft from service in 2017, returning it to GECAS.
From 2017 onwards, the A319 has been operated by Volotea– first re-registered as EI-GAU before being re-registered again to its current letters several months later in the same year.
Powered by two CFM56 engines, the aircraft has a single-class high-density layout with an all-economy 156-seat configuration.
![Volotea_Airbus_A319-111_EI-FMV_JP8565517](https://simpleflying.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Volotea_Airbus_A319-111_EI-FMV_JP8565517-1000x667.jpg)
As of July 2021, the aircraft, which remains under GECAS ownership, had racked up 51,484 flight hours across 27,009 flight cycles. Collateral Verifications LLC estimates that the aircraft has a current market value of about $7.93 million.
What do you think of this incident? What would prompt someone to call in a false bomb threat on this service? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment.
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