IAF jets force Canadian plane to land in Bombay

Indian Air Force jets forced a Canad-Air chartered plane from Dubai to land at Bombay's Santacruz airport on Saturday afternoon.

Airport sources said the aircraft deviated from its permitted path and moved towards a defence-sensitive area along the Western coast when the IAF jets moved in. The Canad-Air aircraft was on a chartered flight from Dubai to New Delhi.

Airport sources said the IAF jets scrambled and chased the aircraft as it strayed into Jamnagar and moved towards Bhavnagar, deviating from the standard permitted route. The plane was forced to fly to Bombay where it landed at 1420 hours.

There were 11 people -- five Canadian crew members and six Chinese passengers -- on board the Canadian registered CL-60 aircraft, Bombay airport police sources said.

The aircraft was sealed by customs officials and those aboard it are being interrogated, police sources said. A security cordon has also been thrown around the aircraft. The investigation is being conducted by officials of the air force, Intelligence Bureau, customs and Bombay police detectives.

This is the second such incident in the last two years at Bombay airport. On December 22, 1995, a Russian AN-26 aircraft with a Latvian crew was impounded at Santacruz airport. The plane was later discovered to have been involved in the infamous arms dropping affair near Purulia in West Bengal.