Bomb scare triggers emergency landing of Air India flight in Canada

The latest in a series of fake bomb threats against Indian airlines forced an Air India plane to make an emergency landing in Canada, the airline said on Tuesday.

The passenger plane, which was flying from the Indian capital New Delhi to Chicago, was the subject of a “security threat posted online” and landed at Iqaluit Airport in Canada as a “precautionary measure,” Air India said.

The plane and passengers would be “re-screened in accordance with the established safety protocol,” the company said.

“Air India notes that it and other local airlines have faced a number of threats in recent days,” it added.

“Although it later emerged that all of them were hoaxes, as a responsible airline operator all threats are taken seriously.”

Indian media reported that an Air India flight from Mumbai to New York was diverted mid-air to New Delhi after a false warning on Monday.

According to Indian media, similar false reports were received by India’s low-cost airline IndiGo regarding two flights that were supposed to take off – to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and to Muscat in Oman.