Singapore Armed Forces on Tuesday scrambled two fighter jets to escort an Air India Express plane due to a bomb threat, its defence minister said. It was escorted away from populated areas 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.
Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, in a Facebook post, said Air India Express had received the threat via email. The mail said there was a bomb on board flight AXB684, which later was found to be a hoax.
In order to tackle the situation, two Singapore air force F-15SG jets scrambled and escorted Air India flight away.
Ng said the plane was escorted and landed safely at Changi Airport at 10:04 p.m. (1404 GMT) on Tuesday. He added that Singapore’s ground based air defence systems and explosive disposal team were also activated.
“Once on the ground, the plane was handed to the airport police,” Ng said.
No Real Threat
The police said “no threat items were found” on board the plane after completing security checks, adding that investigations were ongoing.
“The police take security threats seriously and will not hesitate to take action against those who intentionally cause public alarm,” it said in an emailed statement.
The number of passengers onboard the aircraft could not be immediately ascertained. Air India did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
More Such Warnings?
Air India said on social media that another of its flights bound for Chicago had landed in Canada as a precautionary measure on Tuesday, following a security threat posted online.
“Air India notes that it, and other local airlines, have been subject to a number of threats in recent days. Though all have subsequently been found to be hoaxes, as a responsible airline operator all threats are taken seriously,” it said.
Similar threats were received by IndiGo airlines too on Monday – for two flights from Mumbai. One of these flights was to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and the other one was to Muscat in Oman.
Another SpiceJet flight SG116 from Darbhanga to Mumbai and an Akasa Air flight QP1373 from Bagdogra to Bengaluru also received bomb threats on Tuesday.
In two days, over 10 bomb scares were reported as per the CISF. This prompted Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu to call an emergency meeting on Tuesday.
Some sources say that several accounts posting bomb threats have been identified and suspended. They added that they had been informed that some threats originated in London and from other countries.
(with inputs from Reuters)
