No threat to PM's aircraft: Aviation Minister

New Delhi, July 18: Government today said there was no threat to Air Force One, the aircraft that flew Prime Minister Narendra Modi back from Germany over the airspace where Malaysian Airlines plane was shot down yesterday.

"I think that is speculation .... There was no danger to our PM's aircraft. No problem. On Air Force One, the flight data is on foreign radar," Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju told reporters when asked whether there was any threat to the PM's plane which flew over the same airspace. The Prime Minister returned last night after his trip to Brazil for the BRICS Summit.

"What happens is that whenever any air route (for a VIP aircraft) is finalised, the countries involved get to know about it. If you don't keep them informed, there is another type of problem," he said.

"So generally whenever any civilian aircraft flies over a country, suppose India, obviously the Government of India will know what aircraft it is, to whom it belongs, what its intentions are," Raju said.

All 298 people on board Malaysian Airlines plane were killed yesterday after the jet was shot down by "terrorists" over war-torn eastern Ukraine near the Russian border.

PTI