Drones spotted near Amritsar airport at night, three flights diverted or sent back
Two to three drones were spotted near Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport on Sunday night. Three flights were diverted or turned back. Operations were back to normal by 10.30 pm
Amritsar airport drone incident: Flight operations at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport were briefly disturbed on Sunday night after drones were seen flying near the airport. Three incoming flights had to be diverted or sent back as a safety step.
As per reports, personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) noticed two to three drones in the airspace around the airport at about 9.30 pm. They quickly alerted the control room. Security arrangements were then checked and flights were stopped for a while as a precaution.
Which flights were affected
- Air India flight AI-855 from Delhi was sent back to Delhi
- IndiGo flight 6E-5028 from Mumbai was diverted to Chandigarh
- Malaysia Airlines flight MH-118 from Kuala Lumpur was diverted to Delhi
The sudden change left a number of passengers stuck at the airport. Some of them were angry about the diversions and cancellations. They said no official was available at once to answer their questions.
Airport Director Anirudh Kumar Sharma said security staff had reported the drone activity and the flights were diverted only as a precaution. He said things were back to normal after 10.30 pm and that passengers’ problems were handled afterwards.
Seven flights were also hit in September
Drone activity was also reported near the airport on September 6, when seven flights were affected. Between 9.40 pm and 9.50 pm that night, suspected drones were seen flying near the airport’s runway and operational area. As a precaution, airport authorities stopped operations completely for around 90 minutes.
During this time, seven commercial flights bound for Amritsar were diverted to Delhi and Chandigarh. These included flights of Malaysia Airlines, Air India and IndiGo.
September drones were linked to a sports event
Later, an initial probe by the Punjab Police and security agencies found that the September incident was not a security breach or a case of spy drones. According to the findings, the drones were being flown during a sports tournament in a village close to the airport.
It is not yet clear whether the latest drone activity has any such explanation. Officials have not shared any details so far and this report will be updated when more information comes in.
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