A Ryanair flight from Milan was met by police at Palermo Airport. The alarm on this Ryanair flight was raised when the plane landed and police, along with firefighters and bomb disposal experts, rushed to the scene to check the plane and all of its luggage. At 20:20 local time on March 17, Ryanair flight FR7376 landed at Palermo Airport from Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP). Because of the bomb threat on this flight, the airspace at Palermo airport was temporarily closed as police and bomb experts attended the scene.
All flights scheduled to land between 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. local time have been diverted to another airport on the island.
According to local media, three flights from Milan, Florence, and Budapest were diverted to the other major Sicilian airport, Catania-Fontanarossa. The Boeing 737 MAX 8-200 aircraft (reg. 9H-QCL) taxied from runway 07 but the crew was informed of a possible bomb threat on board the plane. The plane was reportedly carrying 190 passengers and crew, who were all evacuated safely. In this type of situation, flight attendants are required to evacuate all occupants of the aircraft within 90 seconds. Information reported by local media indicates that the alert was given following concerns about a suspicious suitcase. After a search by law enforcement officers and deminers, no device was found on the plane after two hours of searching.