This is the timeline of Belgrade - Moscow flight that took off, returned, and then took off again last night
An Air Serbia plane flying on the route JU134 from Belgrade to Moscow was forced last night to return to the Nikola Tesla Airport in the Serbian capitaly shortly after take-off, due to extraordinary security checks related to one passenger, the national carrier has announced.
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According to unofficial information from the airport's surveillance cameras, this occurred because Aleksandar Vulin's luggage allegedly did not pass a complete KD (counter-diversion) check before boarding.
Among the passengers was also the director of Srbijagas, Serbia's public natural gas company, Dusan Bajatovic, and the president of the Serbian People's Party (SNP) Nenad Popovic.
The Airbus A320 named after basketballer Vlade Divac took off from Belgrade at 18:48 last night, but the trip was interrupted after instructions from the airport services.
"In accordance with the received instructions and all valid safety regulations, the decision was made to return the plane to Belgrade so that all necessary procedures are fully implemented. The control of passengers and baggage is carried out under the jurisdiction of the airport security system and the corresponding services," Air Serbia announced, stressing that the crew reacted strictly according to regulations and the highest safety standards.
The aircraft landed back in Belgrade around 22:00, after which a complete counter-diversion and security inspection of the passenger in question, other passengers and all the baggage was conducted.
Only after the competent services had completed all the checks, the plane took off again for Moscow deep into the night - at 01:56. According to flight tracking service Flightradar24, flight JU134 arrived at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport at 06:43 local time.
This extraordinary event has led to a large chain of delays. JU135's return flight from Moscow to Belgrade, which was scheduled to depart at 00:40, took off only at 08:12 in the morning - more than seven hours late.
The plane is currently in the air and, according to the latest radar service estimates, it is expected to land at the Belgrade airport soon.
(Telegraf.rs)