Adult diaper causes bomb scare, reroutes international flight to Florida
Panama City Panama October 15 2023
It was just a stink bomb.
An adult diaper thought to be an explosive rerouted a plane bound for Florida on Friday.
Officials ordered a Copa Airlines flight headed from Panama City to Tampa to turn back so that a suspected bomb threat could be investigated after it spent about an hour in the air.
Airport security at Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport on Friday searched flight headed for Tampa, Florida, for a suspected bomb, only to find an adult diaper.
The Boeing 737-800 returned back to Panama City’s Tocumen International Airport around 11 a.m. local time and brought to an isolated stretch of tarmac.
The 144 passengers aboard had to get off the plane so anti-explosive teams could search the aircraft.
But it was an adult diaper wrapped in a black plastic bag in one of the plane’s bathrooms that prompted the scare police said.
The flight returned to the airport after about an hour in the air and was parked on an isolated stretch of runway, where it could be searched after the passengers disembarked.
“We had it on a secure runway where police special explosives canine units and special forces examined the object, and found it to be an adult diaper, ruling out any risk,” Castro said.
The flight, which originally took off at 9:36 a.m. before returning to Panama City, then took off just after 2 p.m. and arrived to Tampa just before 7 p.m.
