Anonymous Call Determined To Be Hoax

If you thought only US, British or other European airlines operate under the everpresent shadow of a terror threat, think again. An Indian Airlines flight is the latest to be diverted to an alternate destination, after offficials received an anonymous phone call Tuesday claiming two terrorists were onboard the plane.

Indian Airlines flight IC-683 departed Mumbai at 9:00 pm Tuesday night, and was scheduled to arrive at Dubai International Airport three hours later... but the caller led to a change in plans.

"After it took off, our Mumbai office got a phone call saying that two terrorists were among the 144 passengers on board," an unnamed airline official told the Indian Express. "By the time the call came, the plane had left Indian airspace, so we alerted the Dubai authorities who diverted the plane to al-Minhad airbase."

After passengers were rushed off the aircraft, security officials swept the plane for signs of a terrorist plot. They found nothing out of the ordinary... and the threat was determined to be a hoax.

Emirates' WAM news agency quoted an official of the Dubai General Civil Aviation Authority, saying "the Authority received information on the safety and security status of the Dubai-inbound plane and precautionary checks were made."

The incident comes two days after al-Qaeda’s No.2 official, Ayman al-Zawahri, warned the terror group aimed to strike the Persian Gulf and Israel.

FMI: http://indian-airlines.nic.in/home.asp