After a thorough interrogation and search Indian authorities confirmed that the military cargo aircraft, which has landed in Mumbai air port yesterday was carrying medicines to the US troops operating in Afghanistan and no weapons or ammunition were on board said IAF spokesperson Wg Cdr Tarun Kumar Singha.
Speaking to ANI Wg Cdr Singha said the aircraft was hired by the US military, from a Russian agency. All the 18 persons including the crewmembers who were in the aircraft were civilians and belonged to the Russian agency.
The hired military cargo aircraft violated the Indian air space near Gujarat yesterday and was forced to land at Mumbai's Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
The aircraft was travelling from Diego Garcia island, a military base of the US near Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, to Kandahar in Afghanistan.
Wg Cdr Singha said that according to norms any hired civilian aircrafts for the military purposes has to get an AOR clearance form the IAF on this case the Russian agency did not obtain the clearance, the Mumbai ATR instructed the captain to land the aircraft.
He denied the report of IAF planes escorting the intruded aircraft and said the pilot followed the instruction given by the ATR, so the question of escort does not arise.
The Indian authorities have given the clearance to the aircraft to fly. Shreeraj Gudi
An Italian woman, who arrived late for the Air France flight that crashed in the Atlantic, was not so lucky after all. She has been killed in a car accident in Austria.
Johanna Ganthaler was holidaying in Brazil with her husband and missed Air France Flight 447 after turning up late at Rio de Janeiro airport on May 31, The Times reported.
All 228 people aboard lost their lives after the plane crashed into the Atlantic four hours into its flight to Paris.
The couple, from Bolzano-Bozen province, had managed to pick up a flight from Rio the following day.
Ganthaler died when their car turned across a road and swerved into an oncoming truck.
Her husband was seriously wounded.
India's leading private carrier Jet Airways handed over pink slips to 110 employees on the eve of May Day, the company said Friday.
'Jet Airways undertakes additional measures to streamline costs to improve the financial health of the company under the challenging economic environment. The airline has issued notices of termination to identified employees on contract, who have superannuated,' a company spokesperson said.
'The termination is in accordance with the law and their (employees') service conditions,' he added.
Of these employees, 50 were on contract basis, while the remaining 60 were probationary cabin-crew.
Last year, the airline had given termination notice to around 19,00 employees, but revoked the decision after the government's intervention and workers' protest.
Last week, Jet had cut the salaries of its employees drawing a gross monthly salary of over Rs.75,000 by up to 25 percent.
The airline faces losses as its revenue has been falling since early last year.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Thursday airlines were prepared to deal with the swine flu outbreak and noted the World Health Organisation was not calling for restriction of regular travel.
The industry body warned earlier this week that swine flu will compound financial problems for airlines, already hard hit by the global economic crisis, which pushed passenger numbers down 11.1 percent in March compared with a year ago.
It said passengers should be reassured that the environment in plane cabins was safe due to air filtration systems similar to those in hospitals, regular disinfecting and crew trained in handling those who might become ill on board.
It noted the WHO had advised there should be no restriction of regular travel or closure of borders, although people who are ill should delay international travel.
"WHO is the global expert," said IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani in a statement.
"We hope that governments take decisions and coordinate their actions in line with WHO recommendations," he said, adding that the move by some governments to adjust immigration procedures could create confusion for travellers.
IATA, which represents 230 airlines including British Airways, Cathay Pacific, United Airlines and Emirates, has said airlines would lose $4.7 billion this year as a result of the economic downturn that has kept people and cargo from flying.