Goa-bound flight from Moscow diverted to Uzbekistan after bomb threat

A Goa-bound flight from Moscow with 240 passengers on board was diverted to Uzbekistan in the morning today, after the authorities at the Dabolim airport received an email, which claimed that a bomb had been planted on board the plane, according to local police.

The flight, operated by Russian airline Azur Air, was scheduled to land at the Dabolim airport in South Goa at 4:15 am.

“The flight (AZV2463) was diverted to Uzbekistan after an email was received at 12:30 am by the office of the Dabolim airport director, which said that a bomb was planted on the plane. The flight was diverted before it entered the Indian airspace. It landed at an airport in Uzbekistan around 4:30 am,” the PTI report said.

Apart from passengers, there were seven crew members on board, he said.

After the threat mail, the Dabolim airport was put on alert and the personnel of Goa Police, Quick Response Team (QRT), Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and dog squad were deployed at the facility as a precautionary measure, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Vasco) Salim Shaikh said.

This is the second incident of a bomb threat on the Moscow-Goa route involving Azur Air within a fortnight. On January 9, the Russian airline had diverted its Moscow-Goa flight for an emergency landing at Gujarat’s Jamnagar airport after a bomb scare.

In the January 9 incident, the Azur Air office in Russia had received the threat mail, while this time around it was received by the office of the Dabolim airport director.

Police have launched an investigation into the case.