Flight AI-2030 lands at Jaipur International Airport, all passengers safely disembark, Indian media reports
An Air India Airbus A320-200 aircraft takes off from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, India, July 7, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/File
An Air India flight en route to New Delhi from Frankfurt, Germany, was diverted to India’s northwestern Jaipur city on Wednesday following a suspected hijack alert and an alleged bomb threat, according to media reports.
Flight AI-2030 landed safely at Jaipur International Airport at 9.35 am (0405GMT) and was moved to an isolation bay for security checks, while authorities investigate the incident, India Today reported, citing sources.
Initial checks found that the aircraft’s operations were normal, the report said.
According to preliminary information, Ahmedabad Air Traffic Control received an emergency signal from the aircraft for a few seconds around 9 am (0330GMT).
The pilot reportedly activated Squawk 7500, an internationally recognised transponder code used to discreetly alert air traffic control to a hijacking or unlawful interference with an aircraft.
Airport management said all passengers aboard the aircraft were safe and being deboarded, adding that the situation was normal.
The emergency landing occurred after a bomb threat, Hindustan Times reported, citing police sources.
The incident follows a separate attempted hijacking on a flydubai flight on September 30, where the hijacker planned to hijack a passenger aircraft bound for Tel Aviv and crash it into a terminal at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport.
Read: UAE attorney general orders investigation into Flydubai flight incident
On Wednesday, FZ1073, carrying 174 passengers from Dubai to Tel Aviv, made an emergency landing at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz International Airport in the northwestern Saudi city of Tabuk after an altercation was reported in the cockpit.
Flydubai said “an altercation occurred in the flight deck,” adding that crew members aboard the aircraft secured the plane and diverted it safely to Saudi Arabia.
Airport officials said both the captain and first officer were injured and taken to a hospital following the incident. All passengers and crew were reported safe and accounted for.
Saudi Arabia’s National Transport Safety Centre later said its safety investigation team had begun work on the incident and was coordinating with relevant authorities to determine the circumstances, examine aviation safety aspects and collect related information and evidence.
The airport said the passengers later departed Tabuk aboard an alternative aircraft provided by Flydubai.
