A Lufthansa flight made an unscheduled landing in Istanbul on Sunday after a bomb threat.
The pilot of the Airbus A321, which can carry up to 200 passengers, returned after hearing an unusual noise from the cargo hold, the airline said.
An aviation source claimed that after Flight LH1305 turned back, a bomb threat was made against the aircraft. The source could not say how the threat was made or to which authority.
Michael Lamberty, a Lufthansa spokesman, said the 5.50 a.m. local time (0350GMT) flight from Ataturk International Airport to Frankfurt landed safely around 7.10 a.m.
“The cockpit crew became aware of an unusual noise from the cargo compartment and decided to return to Istanbul,” he said. “The plane land safely and when the aircraft was checked they found some cargo was not fixed correctly.”
Turkish police declined to comment.