The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will examine the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system for a possible technical error after an Air India flight from Frankfurt to Germany was diverted to Jaipur on Wednesday over a hijack scare.
Flight AI 2030 with 306 people on board was asked by ATC to divert and make an emergency landing at Jaipur. The Boeing 787-9 aircraft landed safely at the airport and was moved to an isolation bay for security checks.
Reports suggest that the Mumbai ATC, which is en route to Delhi and the western part of the country due to longer routes over geopolitical complexities, asked the pilot to divert after it received squawk code 7500, an alert for hijacking or unlawful interference.
The code 7500 is generally sent to ATC by the pilot by typing it like a passcode. However, the pilot-in-command denied squawking the transponder code. In fact, after an alert was received on the ground, the ATC contacted the pilot, who told them there was no flight hijacking.
However, the protocol forced the flight to divert and make an emergency landing. While both ATC and the pilot-in-command maintained their stance, the aviation regulator has now ordered an investigation. As part of it, the DGCA will also probe the new systems at the Mumbai ATC.
After thorough searches and detailed security checks, the aircraft was cleared to fly in the afternoon. Subsequently, the flight departed from Jaipur at 2:37 and landed at Delhi's IGI Airport at 3:11 PM.
Air India issued a statement saying the flight was diverted "following a perceived security concern". It confirmed that security checks were conducted and the aircraft and crew were cleared.
Swasti Rao, Professor at OP Jindal University and International Relations expert, was onboard the flight and narrated the moments before the flight was diverted. According to a report by Hindustan Times, she said the pilot told passengers about ATC's directions to divert the flight to Jaipur.
"He said he didn’t know why, but he had been asked by ATC to divert to Jaipur and land there. He said he’d keep us updated," Rao was quoted as saying.
After that, the crew came back to passengers every 10 minutes, informing passengers about the emergency landing at Jaipur airport. After landing, the pilot informed them about the hijack hoax. "I didn’t want to panic anybody, but there was a hoax," Rao quoted him as saying.