Dubai: A Dubai-Manila flight was diverted to India early morning on Thursday due to a bomb scare caused by a "disruptive" female passenger, the airline confirmed.
Cebu Pacific Flight 5J 7945 left the Dubai International Airport at 11.10pm on Wednesday but had to make an emergency landing at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi two hours into the flight after a disruptive passenger shouted that there was a bomb on the plane.
“CEB flight 5J 7945 Dubai - Manila diverted to Indira Gandhi Int'l Airport (New Delhi) at 6:55AM (2.55am UAE time) today, July 30, 2015, due to a disruptive passenger. CEB is coordinating with the government authorities in India, on this matter. CEB will provide updates as soon as available,” a Cebu Pacific advisory on its official Twitter account read.
#CEBAdvisory: CEB flight 5J 7945 Dubai - Manila diverted to Indira Gandhi Int'l Airport (New Delhi) at (cont) http://t.co/FKd7jTo3sh— Cebu Pacific Air (@CebuPacificAir) July 30, 2015
The "disruptive" passenger aboard Cebu Pacific Flight 5J 7945 has been offloaded from the plane and turned over to the Philippine Consulate in New Delhi, India.
A relative of a passenger on the same flight told Gulf News that they were stranded in India for 12 hours. Airline crew started to call on passengers to board the plane on Thursday at 3.30pm UAE time, with an estimated time of arrival in Manila at 9.30pm UAE time.
Dubai-based Venus Ramos, whose mother-in-law Solia is on Flight 5J 7945, said the passengers are all safe, following a phone call with Solia in India.
“She called us this morning and said that they had been stranded at the (New Delhi) airport for 12 hours with no food nor hotel accommodation. Two hours into the flight last night, a woman seemed to have lost her cool and blurted out that there was a bomb on the plane, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing in India,” Ramos told Gulf News.
The airline said that it has already alerted the passenger’s family regarding the incident and is now in coordination with the relevant authorities in India and the Philippines.
Other reports, however, claimed that the Filipina passenger was "mentally unstable" and said the word "bomb".
“Cebu Pacific flight 5J 7945 Dubai-Manila diverted to Indira Gandhi International Airport (New Delhi, India) at 6:55 am (Philippine time) today, July 30, 2015, due to a disruptive passenger,” the airline said on its official Facebook page.
“The passenger has been offloaded from the flight and is now in the custody of the Philippine Consulate in New Delhi, India.”
