Kolkata: A Singapore Airlines flight with 225 passengers and 39 crew on board was forced to remain airborne for three hours after the captain was alerted of a bomb threat on Sunday evening.
The pilot of flight SQ 61, Johny Alberto, was somewhere over Amritsar when he received the LASP (land as soon as possible) message from Moscow air traffic control. His first option was to touch down at Delhi, the nearest airport for the wide-bodied Boeing 777-300 ER. But as the Commonwealth Games (CWG) opening ceremony was in progress, permission was denied and the aircraft directed to Kolkata nearly three hours away.
"Had there been a bomb on board the plane and had it exploded before reaching Kolkata, the authorities in Delhi would have had a lot to answer for. Though a Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) had been issued in view of the high security and restrictions for the CWG opening ceremony, an emergency landing should have been allowed," said an experienced captain.
According to former director general of DGCA Kanu Gohain, an emergency situation like this requires the pilot to land as soon as possible at the nearest available airport at which a safe approach and landing is assured.
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