London-bound Turkish Airlines flight diverted as mobile phone sparks terror fears

A PASSENGER plane on its way to London from Istanbul was diverted and made an emergency landing amid fears an unclaimed mobile phone posed a terror threat.

The Turkish Airlines flight TK1979 landed at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport after cabin crew found the phone mid-air.

Concerned staff asked the owner to claim the phone but when the request went unanswered, the pilot requested permission to land.

 The Boeing 777 had taken off from Ataturk Airport with 300 passengers on board and was part way through the flight when an air hostess discovered the phone in the toilet cubicle.

The plane made an emergency landing and a security sweep was carried out.

However, as nothing suspicious was found, staff concluded the phone and been left on board by a previous passenger before the plane took off at 8.34am on Thursday.

The passenger plane was later cleared for take off where it continued its journey on to Heathrow.

A Turkish Airlines spokesman said: “At the termination of the relevant security process, no suspicious issue has been detected and the aircraft has continued to its original destination.”

The scare comes exactly a week after EgyptAir flight MS804 plunged into the sea with 66 people on board.

An internation search team is hunting for the main body of the plane and working to retrieve the flight data recorders, known as black boxes, in a bid to establish the cause of the disaster.

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