CHANDIGARH: Multiple suspected drone like objects were spotted around the operational area of Amritsar's Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport which prompted Air Traffic Control (ATC) to halt landings for 90 minutes and divert seven flights, including two international ones on Sunday night.
The incident took place at around 10.00 pm when a drone-like object’s movement was detected near the runway area.
The airport's Director Anirudh Kumar said, "For about 1 hour and 30 minutes, all flight operations remained suspended. The suspicious activity of the drone-like objects was detected close to the runway area. The airport operations have since returned to normal."
This triggered an immediate security response, with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Punjab police and central security agencies being alerted. The airport was closed for operations after the Indian Air Force (IAF) informed the ATC about drone activity across the airfield.
According to preliminary information, the objects appeared to have approached the airport from the direction of Rudala village and remained airborne for several minutes.
There was no immediate confirmation whether the objects were drones or something else. Their exact origin remains unclear.
Following the airport's standard operating procedure for drone sightings, a Joint Action Committee was convened in the control tower.
The committee assessed that the drone activity could disrupt scheduled landings, and decided to suspend operations.
Sources in Airports Authority of India (AAI) said that seven flights thus had to be diverted to Chandigarh and Delhi because planes scheduled to land at Amritsar were already holding near the airport area.
Two of the flights were diverted to Chandigarh and five of them were diverted to Delhi. These included two flights each of Air India, IndiGo and one of Air India Express.
The diverted flights included Malaysia Airlines flight MH-118 from Kuala Lumpur, (diverted to Delhi), while IndiGo flights 6E-5028 from Mumbai and 6E-2045 from Delhi were diverted to Chandigarh. Two Air India flights, AI-479 and AI-855, operating from Delhi to Amritsar were turned back to Delhi.
IndiGo flight 6E-1428 from Sharjah and Air India Express flight IX-120, also operating from Sharjah to Amritsar, were diverted to Delhi.
The sighting assumes significance as Amritsar lies around the India-Pakistan border. Hence the airport's operational area is considered a highly sensitive zone.
The precautionary diversion of flights was carried out primarily to ensure passenger safety and prevent any risk to aircraft operating in the vicinity of the airport.