Indian military jets were scrambled on Monday after a bomb alert on an Iranian airliner that turned out to be false, the Indian Air Force (IAF) said. The threat was reported onboard a Mahan Air plane over Indian airspace. The passenger plane was moving from Iran to China’s Guangzhou.
“IAF fighter aircraft were scrambled, which followed the aircraft at a safe distance. The aircraft was offered the option to land at Jaipur & then, at Chandigarh,” the IAF said in a statement, referring to two airports in northern India.
As the foreign aircraft entered the Indian airspace, the alert from Indian Air Traffic Control was shared with the plane. Indian Air Force Su-30MKI fighter jets from Punjab and Jodhpur airbases were scrambled to intercept the plane, sources told ANI.
IAF jets were scrambled after info was received & we were following it maintaining a safe distance as per SOPs. However, the aircraft was allowed to continue on its flight towards China after Iranian agencies asked us to disregard the threat: IAF Sources
— ANI (@ANI) October 3, 2022
According to sources, inputs were received by security agencies in Delhi about the possibility of a bomb on board, which triggered an alert. The Delhi ATC refused to grant permission for the plane to land in Delhi and instead asked to move it to Jaipur and later Chandigarh. The plane refused the request and left the Indian airspace instead.
Flight tracker websites showed that the aircraft performed several mid-air circles west of the Indian capital New Delhi before heading east towards its final destination.
“After a while, intimation was received from Tehran to disregard the bomb scare, following which, the aircraft continued on its journey towards its final destination,” the IAF statement said.
(With inputs from agencies)
