A Turkish Airlines aircraft en route from Istanbul made an unscheduled emergency landing at Barcelona-El Prat Airport on the morning of 16 January 2026 following a bomb threat received mid-flight.
It turned out to be a hot-spot prank which triggered a bomb scare and emergency landing of Istanbul–Barcelona flight. Crew discovered a Wi-Fi hotspot whose name threatened that a bomb was on board.
The Airbus A321 circled twice off Catalonia’s coast before touching down safely at Josep Tarradellas-El Prat Airport about 30 minutes behind schedule. All passengers disembarked while the Civil Guard searched the aircraft; no explosives were found.
Under EU regulation (EC) 300/2008 airlines must report any credible threat; Spain’s Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission (CIAIAC) will now decide whether to open a formal probe. Turkish Airlines said it is cooperating with Spanish authorities to identify the individual who set the hotspot name.
Airport authorities activated security protocols, evacuating the plane and conducting thorough inspections with bomb disposal units, which ultimately found no explosives. The incident caused temporary disruptions to operations, with several flights delayed by up to two hours, affecting hundreds of passengers.
