Frankfurt-Delhi Flight Diverts to Jaipur After False Hijack Code

An Air India flight travelling from Frankfurt to Delhi diverted to Jaipur on Wednesday following a hijack alert that turned out to be false.

Details of the Incident

Flight AI2030 was carrying about 293 passengers and 13 crew members on a Boeing 787-9 aircraft. Security sources stated the pilot transmitted Code 7500 to air traffic control, which points to unlawful interference. Sources later said the code activation happened because of a technical glitch, and no real hijack threat existed. While one source said the pilot pressed the code, another source claimed the pilot did not press it and informed air traffic control in Ahmedabad, though the aircraft was diverted anyway as a security protocol.

Checks and Resumption

The plane landed at Jaipur International Airport at roughly 9:35 a.m. and moved to an isolation bay within ten minutes. Police and security personnel checked the aircraft while passengers went to the terminal building. Air India stated that all passengers disembarked, went through security checks, reboarded the same plane with the same crew, and the flight eventually landed in Delhi at around 3.10 p.m.

Context

Code 7500 is a specific transponder code used by pilots worldwide to silently signal a hijacking or unlawful interference to ground control. Aviation safety rules require strict emergency responses whenever such a signal is received, even if it later turns out to be a false alarm caused by equipment failure.