MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: A
suspected explosive device onboard a stand-by Air India VVIP aircraft
has turned out to be a plastic wrapper, an airline official said in New
Delhi on Saturday.
After a thorough screening of the aircraft, the object "was found to be a plastic wrapper", the official said.
The Jeddah Airport security cleared the Boeing B-747 aircraft - AI 965 - for further operations later on Saturday morning.
The Indian security
apparatus went into a tizzy early Saturday after the suspicious object,
initially presumed to be an explosive, was found by the cabin crew on
the Mumbai-Hyderabad-Jeddah flight at its termination point.
"We have already formed a
committee to look into the matter of how such an object, though
harmless in nature, come on board. The aircraft was secured and cleared
by the airport authorities in Jeddah," a senior Air India official told
IANS in New Delhi.
The committee includes the AI Joint Managing Director and the Commissioner of Civil Aviation Security.
"At no point of time was the safety of the passengers on the aircraft compromised," AI said in a statement.
The aircraft was on
stand-by for use by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in case his regular
aircraft developed any last minute snags during his US visit.
It was kept in complete
readiness at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, and
released Friday for commercial operations after Modi's return to India.
- Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
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