Bomb scare on Moscow-Delhi flight, probe underway

New Delhi An Aeroflot flight plying between Moscow and Delhi made an emergency landing in the national capital on Friday morning, hours after the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport received an email warning of a bomb on bound the plane

New Delhi An Aeroflot flight plying between Moscow and Delhi made an emergency landing in the national capital on Friday morning, hours after the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport received an email warning of a bomb on bound the plane.

Bomb scare on Moscow-Delhi flight, probe underway

Flight SU-232 with 402 people on board -- 386 passengers and 16 crew members -- landed in Delhi at around 3:20 am, and passengers were immediately deplaned and the flight was isolated, officials aware of the matter said.

However, officials said no suspicious item or bomb was discovered on the flight, with the luggage of each passenger also thoroughly inspected by security agencies at the airport. An IGI official said the bomb threat email was declared a hoax on Friday evening after security agencies were satisfied that no dangerous item was at the airport.

Officials said the Airport Operations Control Centre (AOCC) received the email at around 11 pm on Thursday, warning about a possible bomb on an Aeroflot Delhi-bound flight. Within minutes, the Delhi Police and other security agencies were asked look into the incident and take action as soon as the flight landed.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) said security agencies were already ready when the flight landed.

“The AOCC conveyed the information that a bomb was placed on the flight. It was immediately emptied out and inspected upon landing, but nothing has been found yet,” said an official.