Bomb threat on Iran-China plane was hoax: Mahan Airlines

New Delhi, Oct 03: The Mahan Airlines on Monday confirmed that the 'bomb threat' call onboard Iranian passenger jet over Indian airspace, with final destination in China, was hoax. The incident happened on the Mahan Air flight W581 that was flying from Tehran to Guangzhou and according to reports, the flight has landed safely in China.

In the statement, the airlines said,''It seems that such reports in the current international and domestic conditions was proposed in order to disturb the security and peace of mind. It is worth mentioning that this flight landed safely on time.''

The Indian Air Force (IAF) said it scrambled its fighter jets following a bomb scare on a China-bound Iranian civilian plane that was flying over the Indian airspace. An intimation was received of the bomb scare on an airline bearing Iranian registration, when it was transiting through Indian airspace, the IAF said, adding the plane was offered the option to land at Jaipur or Chandigarh but the pilots refused to divert.

IAF fighter aircraft Su-30MKI from Punjab and Jodhpur airbases were scrambled, which followed the aircraft at a safe distance. The aircraft was offered the option to land at Jaipur and then, at Chandigarh. However, the pilot declared his unwillingness to divert to either of the two airports.

"After a while, intimation was received from Tehran to disregard the bomb scare, following which, the aircraft continued on its journey towards its final destination," it said.

Meanwhile, a senior Delhi Police officer said they received a call about the bomb scare in a Tehran-China flight from the Air Traffic Control but soon they were informed by the ATC that the flight was not landing in Delhi.

The China-bound plane carried on its journey after it was given clearance by the authorities as it was not granted permission to land in Delhi and Jaipur due to technical reasons, news agency PTI reported.

At 9.20 am a call regarding a bomb threat was received the police said. The Air Traffic Control shared the information with the flight as it was on Indian air space. The fighter jets from Punjab and Jodhpur were scrambled to intercept the plane, an ANI report said.

The authorities at the Delhi airport were immediately put on alert and permission was sought for landing. It was, however, denied due to technical reasons and the flight was alerted to Jaipur where it was also not permitted to land.

The IAF also said that all actions were taken by the force as per the laid down procedure, jointly with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). It is learnt that the ATC at Delhi airport remained in contact with the IAF when the aircraft was in Indian airspace.