The Indian Air Force (IAF) claims it temporarily scrambled fighter jets in response to a bogus bomb alarm on an Iranian flight.
“The IAF scrambled fighter planes, which tracked the aircraft at a safe distance. The aircraft was given the option to land in Jaipur and then Chandigarh,” the IAF said in a statement released on Monday, referring to two airports in northern India.
The pilot was hesitant to divert to any airport, according to the statement.
According to a statement, the air force stated it got instructions from Iran’s capital, Tehran, to disregard the bomb threat, and the airplane resumed its route.
At a Monday news conference, Nasser Kanani, the spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, told reporters that he had received the rumors concerning the aircraft but could not confirm the facts.
The Iranian airline Mahan Air’s Airbus A340, with a passenger capacity of 320 to 475, was the end route from Tehran to Guangzhou, China.
Flight tracking websites revealed that the aircraft conducted many midair loops west of the capital of India, New Delhi, before continuing east to its eventual destination.
