PM’s flight delayed after security scare

A special aircraft carrying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the Capital was delayed by over 16 minutes on Tuesday evening after an unidentified blip on the air traffic control radar threw a security scare at the IGI airport.

The special flight, which was coming from Ranchi to the Capital, had begun its landing approach when it was asked to abort the procedure by the ATC. The aircraft had to hover around for over 10 minutes while officials sounded a security alert and tried to figure out the identity of the ‘momentary blip’ that appeared on the radar.

However, the flight safely landed at the airport after it was established that there was no danger to the PM. An inquiry has now been ordered into the incident.

“As it was an important flight and the airspace was sterile, it has to be examined how the blip showed up on the radar. It will be looked into by security agencies, ATC and DGCA,” an official said.