New Delhi, June 23 (IANS) An Air India Express flight from Delhi to Srinagar via Jammu on Monday returned to the national capital before landing in the latter city due to “suspected GPS interference”.

According to officials, the flight IX-2564 was expected to land in Jammu around noon, but instead, it hovered over the airport for some time before the pilot chose to fly back to Delhi.

The aircraft had already completed several loops in the Jammu airspace before heading back.

In a statement shared with IANS, an Air India Express spokesperson said: “Our Delhi–Jammu flight returned to Delhi as a precautionary measure, following a suspected GPS interference incident. Subsequently, an alternative flight was organised to connect guests to Jammu. We regret the inconvenience caused.”

“Instances of GPS signal interference have been reported by operators while flying over certain sensitive regions,” the airline added.

This incident comes just a day after a major commotion broke out at Patna Airport involving another Air India Express flight.

Flight IX2936, which flew from Bengaluru to Patna with 180 passengers, arrived on Sunday morning around 8:30 a.m.

According to passengers, after the planes landed around the same time, announcements were made specifying the baggage belt numbers where their luggage would be available.

However, many passengers were shocked to find that their checked-in baggage was missing.

After landing, an announcement was made asking all passengers to collect their luggage from Belt No. 4.

But as they waited, no baggage arrived. On enquiring, airline staff informed them that the luggage had not been loaded due to weight limitations on the aircraft.

This explanation led to unrest among the passengers, who began protesting at the airport, media reports stated.

Air India Express ground staff and CISF officials stationed at the airport intervened to calm the distressed passengers.

Several passengers were visibly upset, especially those who had connecting flights to catch, which added to their difficulties, the report added.

According to media reports, the airline staff collected the contact details of all affected passengers and assured them that their bags would be delivered to their homes.

–IANS

pk/vd