The Chubu Centrair International Airport runway resumed operations after a bomb threat-related emergency landing; the airport is temporarily closed. The airport is located about 430 km away from the capital Tokyo. Also known as Nagoya Chubu Airport, it is constructed on an artificial island in Ise Bay, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. According to the Chubu Airport Company, the runway was closed due to an emergency landing of a Jetstar Airline aircraft owing to a bomb threat on the morning of the seventh. However, operations resumed at 0:15 pm (Japanese time) sooner.
The bomb threat
On the morning of January 7, an LCC Jetstar Japan aircraft en route from Narita to Fukuoka made an emergency landing at Chubu Airport; according to the airport management firm, five passengers were hurt while attempting to evacuate.
At approximately 6:20 a.m. on the seventh, Narita Airport received an international call from Germany with a male voice stating in English, “A 100-kilogramme plastic bomb was planted in the cargo compartment of the Jetstar aircraft.” You must send out the management, or I will blow it up, he said.
The Jetstar flight landed immediately after 07:30 (local time).
There were reportedly 136 passengers and six crew members on board this aircraft, and they all escaped with the Evacuation Slide. There were five injuries, per the airport management, and they are all deemed mild and are not being transferred by ambulance.
After landing, passengers were told about the risk of explosives.
Because the aeroplane received a bombing notice, the police and others are investigating the incident in depth.
Since the emergency landing, the airport has been closed for more than four hours, and the airport management corporation says operations will restart as soon as safety is established.
According to the authorities, the cabin’s safety has been established, and X-rays are being performed on the luggage in the cargo compartment, but so far, no suspicious things, such as explosives, have been discovered.
Some airlines have issued boarding instructions and are prepared to take off, and Chubu Airport will begin operations after safety has been assured.
Technical problem, passengers were told
In the footage captured by passengers along the runway following an emergency landing, passengers can be seen escaping from the four evacuation slides in front of and behind the aircraft that stopped on the runway.
The evacuated passengers waited in a nearby grassy area.
According to the passengers, the initial notification stated that the plane would make an emergency landing owing to a technical issue, but after landing, it was clarified that there was a possibility of explosives on board.
What is an Evacuation Slide?
Aviation escape chutes are utilised when it is determined that a passenger must be evacuated from the aeroplane promptly.
When the emergency exit is opened, the evacuation slide immediately deploys like a slide, allowing everyone to evacuate the aircraft within 90 seconds under certain circumstances.
However, there have been instances in which people have been hurt by striking their bodies against the hard ground, such as runways, so when utilising the aircraft, the crew will request that passengers provide support below.
Flight cancellations
Flight cancellations occur one after another at Chubu Airport.
Due to the runway restriction, flights to and from Chubu Airport have been repeatedly cancelled.
ANA has cancelled 21 flights linking Chubu Airport to Haneda, Fukuoka, Sendai, etc., and the aircraft from Fukuoka Airport to Chubu Airport landed at Itami Airport instead.
Japan Airlines has cancelled six flights between Chubu Airport, Haneda, Narita, and New Chitose.
