An Air India flight going from Mumbai to Newark in the United States made an emergency landing at London’s Stansted Airport on Thursday following a bomb scare.
“AI 191 Mumbai-Newark of June 27 has made a precautionary landing at London’s Stansted airport due to a bomb threat,” the airline said in a tweet, but deleted it immediately.
Later, an official of the national carrier told Reuters that the bomb threat had been a hoax. He added that there was no security threat.
The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence said that British fighter jets escorted the Air India plane to Stansted airport, BBC reported. A spokesperson for the Royal Air Force said RAF jets were launched from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire to escort the plane.
The London Stansted Airport said that the flight landed safely at 10.15 am local time (2.45 pm Indian Standard Time), with the Essex Police in attendance. The airport said that the flight was parked on an isolated stand, away from the normal airport operations.
The airport said its runway had reopened and was fully operational. “We are very sorry for the delays and disruption caused by the incident,” it added.
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