Hours after a bomb scare triggered diversion of a chartered Azur Air flight from Moscow to Goa, the authorities have informed that there was nothing suspicious onboard the flight.
The flight, with 244 passengers and eight crew members onboard, landed at Gujarat's Jamnagar Air Force Base on Monday night following the bomb threat.
The National Security Guard (NSG) had then conducted an inspection of the aircraft and baggages which was in an isolation bay, which revealed nothing suspicious, reported ANI.
"NSG has not found anything suspicious. The flight is expected to leave from Jamnagar to Goa, sometime between 10.30 am and 11 am. All the cabin baggage has been thoroughly checked," said Jamnagar Airport Director.
The security agencies had cordoned off the airport for nine hours and the passengers were safely evacuated and escorted to the lounge inside the terminal building.
The alert was sounded on Monday night, following which the flights were diverted. All the emergency services were kept on standby at the Jamnagar airport and upon landing at 9:45 pm, all people onboard were safely evacuated.
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.