A chartered flight from Moscow to Goa was diverted to Jamnagar in Gujarat after Goa air traffic controller received a bomb threat. The aircraft has been kept in the isolation bay and further investigation is underway, said Jamnagar airport officials.
There were 236 passengers onboard the Moscow-Goa flight. They were all safely de-boarded at the Jamnagar airport after the aircraft landed around 9.49 pm, reported ANI.
Bomb disposal squad and fire brigade teams have reached the spot. Apart from this, CISF officers, as well as the collector and superintendent of police, Jamnagar, have reached the airport to take stock of the situation.
According to sources, the threat was concerning a suspicious object on the flight.
All the 236 passengers and crew members were evacuated safely and the plane is being checked by local authorities along with the police and bomb detection and disposal squad, said Inspector General of Police (Rajkot and Jamnagar Range), Ashok Kumar Yadav. “We are investigating the matter,” he said.
Earlier, a full emergency was declared for Vistara Airlines flight UK-781 operating from Delhi to Bhubaneswar due to a hydraulic failure. The aircraft, which had around 140 passengers onboard, returned to Delhi after take off. “Vistara’s A320 aircraft VT-TNV operating the flight UK-781 from Delhi to Bhubaneswar was involved in an air turnback due to a hydraulic system issue. The plane made a priority landing at Delhi airport,” PTI quoted a senior DGCA official as saying.
BOMB THREAT ON FLIGHT LAST YEAR
In October last year, a plane carrying 400 people from Moscow had to make an emergency landing in Delhi after a bomb threat. According to officials, Aeroflot Pilotage flight SU 232 had landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on the morning of 14 October. Passengers and crew members were safely evacuated. According to the police, the CISF had received an e-mail warning of a bomb in the flight. The plane was examined and nothing was found.