Air India's Mumbai-Newark flight makes emergency landing at London's Stansted airport following bomb scare

An Air India plane made an emergency landing at an isolated part of the airport in Stansted, London, over a possible bomb threat. An Air India official later confirmed that the bomb scare was a hoax and that there is no security threat. The official added that the plane left for its destination. A Mumbai-Newark flight was escorted to safety by UK fighter jets when the Boeing 777 flight was forced to land at the airport after a ‘sonic boom’ was heard by people over Derby, England. The flight left Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport from Mumbai at 1.30 am on Thursday and was expected to arrive at the Newark Liberty International Airport at 7:55 am. [caption id=“attachment_5054011” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The airplane was escorted to safety by two Eurofighter RAF Typhoon fighter jets, as reported by Mirror Now. It made a precautionary landing around 10.30 am local time in London. London Stansted Airport also added a tweet confirming that the Air-India airplane landed at approximately 10.15 am. London Stansted airport confirmed that the airport had re-opened and is fully operational, following the precautionary landing of Boeing 777.

#UPDATE pic.twitter.com/gR7zYeS14K

— London Stansted Airport (@STN_Airport) June 27, 2019

An RAF spokesman said, “The RAF can confirm QRA Typhoons were launched this morning from RAF Coningsby to intercept a civilian (aircraft). “The aircraft was escorted to Stansted. The Typhoons transited at supersonic speed for operational reasons; any inconvenience caused to local residents is regretted.” Essex Police said they are at the airport making enquiries after reports of a security alert, as reported by  Mirror Now. Air India said in a now-deleted tweet, “191 Mumbai- Newark of 27.06.19 has made a precautionary landing at London Stansted Airport due to bomb threat. Update in the matter follows.”