Sushma Swaraj's plane goes ‘off-radar’ for 14 minutes

An Indian military plane carrying External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to Mauritius enroute to South Africa for the BRICS ministerial meeting went incommunicado for 14 minutes Saturday evening, triggering a major mid-air scare, Xinhua reports.  

Swaraj plane took off from the southern Indian state of Kerala’s capital Trivandrum for Mauritius for a brief stopover in the island nation. The plane had passed the Maldives airspace before going “off radar”. Soon after, it landed safely in Mauritius.

In a statement, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) Sunday said: “The aircraft (IFC 31) changed over from Indian airspace to Male ATC (air traffic control) which then established contact with the aircraft at 1644 IST (Indian Standard Time).”

“However, IFC 31 could not contact Mauritius ATC after entering Mauritius airspace. Mauritius ATC then activated INCERFA (the uncertainty phase). Later at 1658 IST, IFC 31 came in contact with Mauritius ATC and landed,” it added.

The Mauritius authorities had sounded the alarm without waiting for the stipulated 30 minutes as a VIP was on board on the aircraft, the Airports Authority said.

In Mauritius, the Indian foreign minister called on Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth and met her counterpart Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo. “Enhancing our bilateral relationship was the focus of the meeting,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.