Bomb threat sparks evacuation of Cathay Pacific Hong Kong-Beijing flight after landing in capital

Everyone on board evacuated after flight CX390 lands at Beijing Capital International Airport at around noon on Saturday

Hong Kong police said they received a call in morning claiming a bomb had been placed on a mainland China-bound flight

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Cathay Pacific confirmed the incident on Sunday. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Published: 9:10pm, 12 Sep 2021Updated: 9:47pm, 12 Sep 2021

A bomb threat sparked the emergency evacuation of about 30 passengers on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong that had just landed in Beijing, the airline confirmed on Sunday.

The evacuation occurred after flight CX390 landed at Beijing Capital International Airport at around noon on Saturday, with passengers and crew members escaping via emergency slides.

The airline said in a statement on Sunday “a small number” of passengers sustained minor bruises during the operation. Medical care was provided and no one on board the Airbus 330 required hospitalisation.

A source with knowledge of the incident said about 30 passengers were on board.

The company confirmed emergency slides were used to evacuate those on board as a precautionary measure, after authorities received messages concerning a supposed security threat.

A photo shows the plane on the tarmac in Beijing with its emergency slides deployed. Photo: Weibo

A woman said her 70-year-old father took the flight, which touched down in the capital after leaving Hong Kong at about 9am.