A Delhi-bound American Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flight from New York was forced to divert to Rome and make a dramatic landing on Sunday under fighter escort due to a ‘bomb threat on board’, as reported by the New York Post.
The flight, American Airlines Flight 292, with 199 passengers and 15 crew members, was grounded for nearly 15 hours because of the scare, as per NYP.
The aircraft was just two hours from its destination when it made an abrupt U-turn over the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan due to a “possible security issue,” the airline confirmed.
Passengers said the first sign they had that something was wrong was when the captain announced a “diversion due to a security issue,” before the aircraft made a sharp 180-degree turn away from the Indian capital and back towards Europe.
As per NYP, images on social media showed the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner being tailed by two Italian Eurofighter Typhoon warplanes.
Italian Air Force fighter jets escorted the aircraft to Leonardo da Vinci Rome Fiumicino Airport, where it landed safely, the airport told ABC News.
“Safety and security are our top priorities and we thank our customers for their understanding,” the airline said in a statement.
A senior official briefed on the matter told ABC News a bomb threat was received by email but was deemed to be unfounded.
Indian authorities had insisted that the aircraft be checked before continuing on to New Delhi, the official said.
Passengers were taken to the terminal for screening, and the aircraft will undergo a thorough inspection.
The Italian Air Force said in a post on X “Scramble: in the afternoon two Eurofighters of Aeronautica Militare took off on alert to identify and escort a commercial aircraft headed to Delhi which had reversed course towards Fiumicino airport (RM) due to a report of a presumed explosive device on board”. (ANI)
