Air India flight to Chicago emergency lands in remote Arctic city after bomb threat

A bomb threat forced an Air India flight to Chicago to make an emergency landing north of the Arctic Circle — as tensions between the nation and Canada are coming to a boiling point.

Air India Flight A127 made an emergency landing at the remote Nunavut capital city Iqaluit after it received a bomb threat from an anonymous X user.

“AirIndia @DelhiPolice @CellDelhi There are bombs onboard Flight a127. The bombs will soon go off. The flight departed Delhi and is going towards Chicago. You will all Die. This is extremely serious,” wrote the account @schizobomber777, according to the Times of India.

After receiving the threat, the plane made an emergency landing and the 211 crew and passengers disembarked, according to the Guardian.

“The aircraft and the passengers are being re-screened as per the laid down security protocols. Air India has activated agencies at the airport to assist passengers until such time that their journey can resume,” Air India wrote on X.

That flight was one of seven to receive threats online from the same X user, according to the Times of India.

“I placed bombs onboard of Flight IX765. The bombs will go off very soon. Blood will spread everywhere. Hurry up and evacuate, you don’t have much time left,” were among the threats made.

Several of the threatened flights safely made emergency landings in various parts of the subcontinent.

These threats come the day after Canada and India expelled six diplomats.

The Canadian government revoked the diplomatic status of several individuals so they can be part of an investigation into a criminal conspiracy over the assassination of a prominent Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Nijjar was shot outside a Sikh place of worship in June 2023 — the three men arrested for the crime were all Indian nationals.

The Canadian government further claims that an American investigation into a similar assassination attempt revealed an intelligence operation that spanned both North American countries.

The Indian government has rejected claims that any government official has any culpability in the murder of Nijjar.

However, it did claim that Nijjar was head of a Sihk separatist terrorist organization and offered $12,000 for information about him just months before he was murdered. 

These bomb threats evoke the memory of the 1985 Air India bombing, which was orchestrated by Sikh extremists. A Mumbai-bound flight from Montreal exploded off the coast of Ireland, killing 329 people.

The bombing is still the worst act of mass murder in Canadian history.