An American Airlines flight from New York to New Delhi was unexpectedly diverted to Rome on Sunday. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the Flight AA292 safely landed at Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Rome at about 5:30 pm local time after the crew raised safety concerns, which later proved to be “non-credible”, reported AP citing the Airlines.
The flight is expected to stay in Rome overnight so that the crew can rest before continuing to leave for Delhi as soon as possible on Monday.
Videos of the flight being escorted by two fighter jets is doing the rounds of social media. Even the fire truck were visible when the flight landed on the strip.
Neeraj Chopra, a passenger on the same flight told AP that the captain had made an announcement where he said that the flight would turn around about three hours before it was supposed to land in the national capital, because of a change in “security status.” Chopra told AP that passengers on plane were calm but he himself started to stress when the fighter jets started escorting their plane to Rome.
Why was NY-Delhi flight diverted to Rome?
According to a Reuters report that cited sources, the flight which took off from New York was made to land in Rome due to an alleged bomb threat. However, the FAA has not disclosed any information regarding this.
They only said that the flight was diverted as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of the passengers and the crew members. Sources further added that the plane was flying over the Caspian Sea when the airline informed the crew of a bomb threat.
A senior official had told ABC News that the bomb threat was received via an email, but it was later said to be unfounded.
As per an AFP report, the plane was escorted by two military fighter planes, and all the passengers recieved assistance after they were disembarked.