A Canadian Air Force aircraft is ferrying 191 stranded passengers of an Air India flight from Iqaluit airport to Chicago, more than 18 hours after the flight was diverted to the airport due to a bomb threat. The flight had 211 people, including 20 crew members. In a statement on Wednesday, Air India said passengers of flight AI127, which was diverted to Iqaluit in Canada on October 15, are on their way to their destination -- Chicago.
"Passengers are being ferried on a Canadian Air Force aircraft that has taken off from Iqaluit at 03:54 hrs UTC and is expected to land in Chicago at around 07:48 hrs UTC," the airline said.
The UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) of 03:54 hours was around 11.54 pm local time in Iqaluit on Tuesday. The flight had landed at Iqaluit airport at around 05:21 am local time. Air India also thanked the Canadian authorities and authorities at Iqaluit airport for their support and assistance extended to the passengers and the airline during this unexpected disruption.
On Tuesday, Air India's Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft en route to Chicago from Delhi was diverted to the Canadian airport following a bomb threat. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had said that the flight made an emergency landing at Iqaluit, Nunavut, and all 211 people including the crew disembarked the aircraft.
Meanwhile, in the past two days, at least 10 Indian flights have received bomb threats and after security checks, nothing suspicious was found in the respective planes.
Earlier on Tuesday, Singapore Armed Forces scrambled two fighter jets to escort an Air India Express plane away from populated areas following a bomb threat before the aircraft landed safely at Singapore's Changi airport. The Air India Express plane operating flight IX 684 from Madurai to Singapore had received a bomb threat.
Singapore's Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said Air India Express received an email that there was a bomb on board flight AXB684 that was bound for Singapore. "Two of our RSAF F-15SGs scrambled and escorted the plane away from populated areas, to finally land safely at Singapore Changi Airport at around 10:04 pm tonight," he said in a series of posts on X.
(With inputs from agency)
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