PUBLISHED ONOctober 15, 2024 3:51 PMBySean LerThe Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) scrambled two F-15SG fighter jets on Tuesday night (Oct 15) in response to a suspected bomb threat on a Singapore-bound Air India Express flight, said Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen.
In a Facebook post, Dr Ng revealed that the budget airline had "received an email that there was a bomb on board".
The fighters escorted the plane "away from populated areas", before eventually landing at Changi Airport at 10.04pm.
Ground Based Air Defence systems and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team were also activated.
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At about 9.45pm, what sounded like the roar of fighter jets was briefly heard over Hougang and Punggol. The fighters returned at around 10.12pm.
Checks on social media platform X showed that an account with the handle @schizobomber had made a series of bomb-threat posts against several Indian carriers, including one operated by Air India Express from Madurai to Singapore.
The account has been suspended by X.
The flight AXB684, which took off from Madurai at 1.54pm, was scheduled to land in Singapore at 8.50pm.
At around the time the jets were scrambled, checks on flight tracking platform FlightRadar24 showed that many commercial flights were in a ‘holding pattern’ off Changi Airport.
A holding pattern is a circuit-like flight path flown by an aircraft while waiting for clearance to land.
The Air India Express plane was directed away from the passenger terminals to the airside off Sats Airfreight Terminal 2 after landing. Several ground vehicles were later tracked to be alongside the aircraft on FlightRadar24.
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