Strange objects seen over Delhi airport 62 times in 4 months

In the past four months, 62 incidents of sighting of unidentified flying objects have been reported over the Delhi airport but not a single one could be traced.

The Delhi airport is facing a unique security threat these days. In the past four months, 62 incidents of sighting of unidentified flying objects have been reported but not a single one could be traced.

A passenger plane waits to take off as fog begins to clear at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. (Vipin Kumar/HT File Photo)

The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) also received 21 hoax calls in the past 14 months.

Hindustan Times on October 31 had reported about regular sighting of suspicious flying objects in and around the sensitive Delhi airport.

“They could be balloons or kites but from naked eye, they look like drones. But in most of the cases, the objects were harmless. At the airport, there are various stakeholders and we cannot shoot down flying objects. But guidelines are being framed to tackle this menace,” said Surender Singh, director general of CISF.

Singh said that the Delhi airport had six quick reaction teams to tackle with any emergency. “Apart from QRTs we have 375 personnel on standby, who can reach the airport within minutes. A total of 60 hoax calls were received last year at all the airports and we follow the same standard operating procedure every time. We assume it to be genuine,” Singh added.

The CISF detected and seized contraband items worth `3.31 crore from various airports in 2015 during the same period. The agency also recovered gold weighing 31 kg worth `8.68 crore in 19 different instances and that was handed over to the customs for necessary action.

“In order to have smooth and effective inter-agency coordination, workshops were conducted by the CISF at all the airports involving stakeholders working at the airport. About 1,000 personnel are imparted training in soft skills every week,” said a CISF spokesperson.