Air India flight from Birmingham forced to divert over 'bomb threat on board'

Daily Mirror

6 days ago

A Delhi-bound Air India flight - the same carrier that suffered a devastating fatal crash earlier this month - was forced to land in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in response to a bomb threat
An Air India flight has been forced to divert over a bomb threat on board.
The plane was due to fly to Delhi after leaving Birmingham Airport on Saturday, but was forced to divert mid-flight to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
Officials took immediate action to make sure the passengers and crew on board were safe, with Air India saying the plane landed safely in Riyadh, where all necessary security checks were performed, according to the Times of India.
A spokesperson for the airline said: "Flight AI114 from Birmingham to Delhi on June 21 received a bomb threat and was consequently diverted to Riyadh, where where it landed safely and completed security checks."
It follows an Air India plane disaster when a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on June 12.
A staggering 52 British nationals died when the London-bound Boeing Dreamliner plane smashed into the city of Ahmedabad earlier in June, making it the most deadly aviation disaster involving people from the UK since 9/11.
The crash, which unfolded less than a minute after take-off, is so far believed to have claimed 270 lives, including 30 people on the ground. But as they try and come to terms with their loss, many grieving families have still not been able to see the bodies of their loved ones.
Back in the UK, some have called on the Government to do more. After questions mounted over why British consular staff had not been dispatched to local hospitals, Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer told the Commons that the Foreign Office had set up its reception centre at a hotel close to the airport "because we thought that would be the best place to receive British nationals", rather than the hospital itself "where, tragically, there are no living British nationals".
The pilot of the doomed flight has been praised for 'saving dozens of lives' with his final decision seconds before his plane crashed.
But India Air pilot Captain Sumeet Sabharwal, who died in the impact, has now been described as a 'hero' for diverting his plane into a patch of grassland and avoiding a direct hit on the doctors' hostel, saving countless lives.
He sent a mayday message to air control less than a minute after the plane took off from Ahmedabad airport, with the aircraft reaching a height of 650ft before beginning a rapid descent.
As well as being a pilot, the 55-year-old from Mumbai was also the primary carer for his elderly father, Pushkaraj, who was once an officer with India's Ministry of Civil Aviation.