TAM Airlines Madrid-Sao Paulo flight diverted on bomb threat

– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community

PHUKET: A flight operated by Brazilian flag carrier TAM Airlines was forced to return to Madrid late Monday after a bomb threat, the company said in a statement.

Flight JJ8065, a Boeing 777-32W aircraft, left Madrid’s Barajas Airport around 9:21 p.m. local time (2021 GMT). The plane turned back shortly after passing Casablanca in Morocco, about an hour and a half into the flight, according to Flighradar24.com, an air traffic tracking site.

TAM was informed of the alleged bomb threat by Spanish authorities, the airline said via Twitter.

The flight landed safely back in Madrid shortly after midnight, and passengers disembarked safely, TAM said.

The flight had been scheduled to arrive at 5:25 a.m. local time at Sao Paulo’s Guarulhos Airport.

The airline, a unit of LATAM Airlines Group SA, said it is cooperating with authorities. A TAM official in Sao
Paulo said she had no additional information to provide.

— Phuket Gazette Editors