NEW DELHI:
A Jet Airways Mumbai-New Delhi flight was diverted to Ahmedabad shortly after some “security issues” were detected onboard early on Monday.
An airline official said the security issues pertained to a potential hijack and bomb threat. The Boeing 737-900 was scheduled to land in Delhi at about 5am.
The flight with 122 passengers, including seven crew, landed safely in a remote bay at the Ahmedabad airport, and all passengers were disembarked and screened. The pilot alerted Ahmedabad airport authorities about the threat, the official said.
A Jet Airways spokesperson said: “The aircraft landed without incident at Ahmedabad and was parked at a remote bay, where all 115 guests and 7 crew members were safely deplaned.” A letter threatening to hijack the plane was found inside the flight’s lavatory, following which security protocol was followed.
Civil aviation minister Ashok Ganapathy Raju tweeted “I am informed that person responsible… has been identified. I am advising the Airlines to put him on the No-Fly list immediately, in addition to other statutory criminal action.”
The Boeing 737-900 flight 9W-339 had departed from Mumbai around 2:55 am and after diversion, landed in Ahmedabad around 3:45 am.
“Jet Airways is extending full cooperation to the security agencies who are investigating the matter and is not in a position to comment further at this stage. The airline regretted the inconvenience caused to its guests and is making efforts to bring them to Delhi at the earliest,” Jet Airways spokesperson said.
The Jet Airways statement said the flight was diverted following “declaration of an emergency as per established security procedures, due to the detection of an onboard security threat”.
“We are extending full cooperation to the security agencies who are investigating the matter and are not in a position to comment further at this stage,” it said. The police and other security agencies are making further enquiries in the matter in Ahmedabad while the airline made efforts to bring back the passengers to New Delhi as soon as possible.
