An airplane takes off from the Iqaluit airport on April 25, 2015 in Iqaluit, Nunavut.Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press
The Canadian Armed Forces will fly stranded Air India passengers from Iqaluit to Chicago after the commercial flight made an emergency landing in the Arctic due to a bomb threat early on Tuesday.
Federal cabinet ministers announced the decision late in the evening, saying the airline wasn’t able to find a replacement plane and the Nunavut capital doesn’t have the resources to accommodate the 211 passengers.
“We have approved a request to have the Canadian Armed Forces provide an airlift to get passengers safely to their destination in Chicago,” Defence Minister Bill Blair said on social media.
The decision was made after the government consulted with the groups involved and determined that relocating a Canadian Forces aircraft to fly the passengers to Chicago “was the best way forward,” said Defence Department spokesperson Kened Sadiku.
Andrew Green, a spokesperson for Mr. Blair, said the passenger plane landed in Nunavut around 9:20 p.m. ET and is expected to take off for Chicago around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night.
The Airbus A330 is a similar plane to the one used by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he said.
Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan said in a social media post that the Canadian Forces decision was made in part because despite its efforts, the city of Iqaluit is not equipped to house the hundreds of passengers.
Air India flight 127 made an emergency landing in the Canadian Arctic following a global aviation bomb threat. The RCMP said it was en route from New Delhi to Chicago, but landed instead at the Iqaluit International Airport at 5:21 a.m.
Air India did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday about the intervention from the Canadian Forces. Mr. Blair’s office said it could not yet say whether the airline would reimburse the costs incurred by Ottawa.
In a statement posted on social media earlier in the day, Air India said it and other airlines have been subject to “a number of threats” in recent days, adding that all of them have ended up being hoaxes.
The airline said the emergency landing was a precautionary measure and the aircraft and passengers would be re-screened.
Indian media reported Monday that another Air India flight from Mumbai to New York was rerouted to Delhi following a bomb threat online.
With reports from The Canadian Press