Frankfurt-Delhi Air India flight diverted to Jaipur after hijacking alert

An Air India flight travelling from Frankfurt to New Delhi was diverted to Jaipur International Airport on Wednesday morning following a security alert triggered by a reported transponder signal indicating unlawful interference.

Flight AI2030, a Boeing 787-9 aircraft carrying 293 passengers and 13 crew members, landed safely at Jaipur at approximately 9:35 am after air traffic control received the emergency squawk code. The incident prompted an immediate multi-agency security response across aviation and law enforcement bodies in Rajasthan and New Delhi.

According to Directorate General of Civil Aviation sources, the aircraft's pilot transmitted transponder code 7500 while operating within Indian airspace. Code 7500 is the internationally recognised aviation signal for hijacking or unlawful interference. The alert led air traffic control to direct the wide-body aircraft away from its destination and hacia Jaipur.

Upon landing, the aircraft was towed to a designated isolation bay away from the main terminal. Personnel from the Central Industrial Security Force, local police, and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad boarded the plane to conduct thorough security sweeps. All 293 passengers and 13 crew members were safely disembarked and moved to a designated holding area inside the airport terminal while baggage and cabins were screened. Both pilots were de-boarded under standard security procedures.

Authorities subsequently determined that the alert was a false alarm and that no actual threat existed. Preliminary assessments indicated the emergency code may have been entered mistakenly or attributed to a technical anomaly. Airport officials confirmed that nothing objectionable was found during the exhaustive inspections.

Following clearance from security agencies, passengers reboarded the aircraft. The flight subsequently departed Jaipur and completed its journey to Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has initiated a formal inquiry to ascertain the exact circumstances under which the squawk code was transmitted. Aviation ministry sources stated that investigators are reviewing flight data logs and interviewing the cockpit crew to establish whether the activation was accidental.