Moscow-Goa flight diverted to Uzbekistan amid bomb threat
What's the story
Amid a bomb threat, a Goa-bound chartered flight was diverted to Uzbekistan from the Russian capital Moscow. As per reports in the news agency PTI, the flight was rerouted in the early hours of Saturday. Flight AZV2463 of Azur Air was set to land in Goa's Dabolim airport at 4:15 am but got rerouted before it entered Indian air space, said an official.
Context
Why does this story matter?
This incident comes to light during a time when the Indian aviation department is under the spotlight after a series of onboard mishaps. Notably, this is also the second bomb threat incident on a Moscow-Goa flight in the past eleven days. As a result, the flight was rerouted to the Jamnagar airport in Gujarat for an emergency landing.
Details
Flight had 238 passengers on board, including 2 infants
Azur Air's charter plane from Russia had 238 passengers on board, including seven crew members and two infants. According to an airport official: "An Azur Air chartered flight from Russia's Perm International Airport to Goa received a security threat. Following this, the flight was diverted to Uzbekistan. A total of 238 passengers, including 2 infants, and 7 crew are onboard."
Info
Dabolim airport director received bomb-threat email at midnight
Reports also revealed that the Goa-bound flight had departed from the Perm international airport in Bolshoye Savino, almost 16 kilometers southwest of the Russian city. "It was diverted after an email was received at 12:30 am by the Dabolim airport director that mentioned a bomb being planted on the plane," confirmed an official on Thursday.
Know more
Second Moscow-Goa flight with bomb threat
Previously on January 9, an identical incident occurred involving a charter flight to Goa from Moscow. The flight mentioned above had 244 passengers and crew members and had to make an emergency landing in Jamnagar after the Goa Air Traffic Control received an email alleging a bomb threat on the international flight.
Aftermath
CISF team, bomb squad arrived to conduct check
Fire brigade teams and a bomb squad arrived at the spot after the flight landed in Jamnagar, along with a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) team, the police superintendent, and the collector. The National Security Guard (NSG) thoroughly searched the aircraft and found nothing, and the flight was allowed to take off once again for its scheduled destination.