An Istanbul-bound Turkish Airlines flight from Bangkok with 148 passengers onboard landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the capital of India under full emergency conditions due to a bomb scare, RIA Novosti news agency reported with reference to IBN-CNN channel.
"The pilot was informed of a message written with lipstick on the mirror of one of the plane's washrooms that there was a bomb in the cargo hold of the aircraft, leading the pilot to seek Nagpur ATC's permission to land the aircraft there. He directed the pilot to approach the Delhi ATC," the sources said.
Following this, the aircraft was diverted to Delhi and where it landed at 13:41 hours, they added.
However, no explosives were found on the plane. All passengers have been evacuated safely.
Minister of state for civil aviation Mahesh Sharma said NSG and bomb disposal squad were pressed into service. "No explosive was found inside the cabin. The cargo portion is being checked," he said, adding the process may take about three hours.
He said the entire area was cordoned off and the fire brigade was alerted.
All passengers and crew members will be questioned by security and intelligence agencies, the channel said. The entire luggage, especially handbags, will be inspected in order to find the lipstick, the color of which corresponds to the one with which the message on the mirror was written.
The security services do not exclude the fact that someone on board had written a message to create a panic, and then hijack the plane, according to the channel.
Edited by CN