The Indian Air Force (IAF) had to scramble fighter jets to intercept a China-bound Iranian plane on Monday following a bomb threat onboard the aircraft. The aircraft was inside the New Delhi airspace when the alert was sounded.
The Delhi Police received inputs about the possibility of a bomb onboard a Mahan Air flight headed to Guangzhou in China from Tehran in Iran, around 9:20 am. An alert was sounded and the pilot's request to land in New Delhi was declined.
It was instead instructed to go towards Jaipur. However, the pilot refused to divert the plane following which IAF scrambled its jets. IAF Su-30 MKI fighter jets from Punjab and Jodhpur airbases were deployed to intercept the plane.
"Aircraft was offered option to land at Jaipur and then at Chandigarh. But, the pilot declared his unwillingness to divert to either of them. After a while, intimation was received from Tehran to disregard bomb scare. Aircraft continued on its journey towards final destination," ANI quoted an IAF statement.
All actions were taken by the IAF as per the protocol laid down by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, the statement said, adding that the aircraft was under close radar surveillance by the Air Force throughout the Indian airspace.
According to Sanjay Tomar, Deputy Chief Fire officer, teams were on standby at Delhi airport, but the flight did not land. "We were given an all-clear message at 10.05am by security," he told ANI.
Flight data from the tracking website, Flightradar24, also showed the flight reducing altitude between Delhi and Jaipur before leaving the Indian airspace. The flight continued its journey towards China
