London, German airline Lufthansa has located the Oscar statuette belonging to Russian filmmaker Pasha Talankin that went missing after airport security at New York's JFK flagged it as a potential weapon and forced him to check it in as cargo.
Talankin, co-director of Mr. Nobody Against Putin which won the Best Feature Documentary at the Academy Awards in March this year, had been left in a state of shock after the award vanished during his journey from New York to Frankfurt on Wednesday.
In a statement to BBC on Friday evening, the airline said the trophy had been found and will be returned to Talankin 'as quickly as possible'.
"We can confirm that the Oscar statue has now been located and is safely in our care in Frankfurt. We are in direct contact with the guest to arrange its personal return as quickly as possible. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused and have apologised to the owner," Lufthansa said.
The airline added that it initiated an internal review into the circumstances, which is currently underway.
