An American Airlines flight from New York to New Delhi was forced to land in Italy due to a bomb threat, the Flight Emergency site and airport sources said on Sunday.
The plane turned around over the Caspian Sea on Sunday and landed in Rome, a spokesman with the Leonardo da Vinci International Airport said.
The spokesman, Francesco Garibaldi did not give the reason for the change in flight plans. He said security checks would be performed as soon as the 199 passengers on board, plus the crew, leave the plane.
“American flight AA292 will divert to Rome en route to Delhi due to a bomb threat,” Flight Emergency, a flight-tracking account, posted on X.
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flight with about 200 people onboard landed at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport at about 16:20 GMT, according to airport sources.
The plane was over the Caspian Sea when the airline warned the crew of a bomb threat, Reuters sources added.
A senior official briefed on the matter was cited by ABC News as saying that a bomb threat was received by email but deemed to be unfounded.
American Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The flight, which departed from John F. Kennedy International Airport, had been heading to Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Dehli.
An Associated Press reporter filmed two fighter jets flying over the airport shortly before the unscheduled landing. Fire trucks were visible on the landing strip on one side of the plane after it landed.
The airport continue to operate normally, the spokesman said.
