US bomb from Second World War defused at German airport

By Staff The Canadian Press

Posted May 29, 2016 3:55 pm EST

Updated May 29, 2016 4:18 pm EST

1 min read

This article is more than 7 years old and some information may not be up to date.

Empty seats at Hannover Airport near where an unexploded World War II bomb is suspected to be buried, in Langenhagen, Germany, 29 May 2016. As a result of bomb disposal operations being carried out on 29 May at a construction site near Terminal A of Hannover Airport, 54 flights, including 28 departures and 26 arrivals, are being diverted to other airports, according to media reports. EPA/PETER STEFFEN

BERLIN – An American bomb dropped during World War II has been defused at the airport in the northern German city of Hannover in an operation that forced dozens of flights to be diverted.

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Local authorities decided last week to search for possible bombs on Sunday after experts carrying out soundings of the soil ahead of apron resurfacing work detected magnetic interference at two sites. A kilometre radius was sealed off and 54 flights diverted to other airports.

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The town council in Langenhagen, where the airport is located, said experts unearthed and defused a 551-pound U.S. bomb. A second suspect object turned out to be a metal pipe.

More than 70 years after the end of the war, unexploded bombs are still regularly discovered during construction work in German cities.