A chartered Azur Air flight from Moscow to Goa had to be diverted to Jamnagar in Gujarat following a bomb threat. Officials said the Goa Air Traffic Controller (ATC) received a bomb threat on Monday night, triggering the diversion.
Officials at the Jamnagar's Indian Air Force base, where the flight landed, said the aircraft and baggage are currently in an isolation bay and are being inspected, reported ANI.
All the emergency services are kept on standby at the Jamnagar airport and upon landing at 9:45 pm, all 244 passengers and eight crew members of the flight were safely evacuated. They were also subjected to thorough check at the Jamnagar airport. All passengers onboard the flight are reportedly foreign nationals.
The flight was supposed to land at the Dabolim airport. The security in and around the Dabolim airport has been beefed up after the incident.
Meanwhile, the Russian Embassy has issued a statement saying that they were alerted by the Indian authorities about the alleged bomb scare on the Azur Air flight en route from Moscow to Goa.
“The Embassy was alerted by Indian authorities about alleged bomb scare on Azur Air flight from Moscow to Goa. The aircraft made an emergency landing at Jamnagar Indian Air Force Base. Everyone on board is safe; authorities conducting an inspection of the aircraft," said the statement.
This isn't first bomb threat on flights from Moscow in recent times. Last October, the authorities received a hoax bomb threat on a flight from Moscow to Delhi. The plane landed safely on the runway, and the passengers and crew were evacuated. A probe was launched soon in this regard. The same month, another bomb scare on an Iranian airliner Mahan Air's Tehran to Guangzhou flight had forced the Indian Air Force scramble its fighter jets. The flight was on Indian airspace when the alert was issued. However, the Indian ATC later received information from Iran's capital Tehran to disregard the bomb scare and the flight continued its journey. It landed safely in Tehran.
