Minister says Canadian Forces to help stranded Air India passengers in Iqaluit

IQALUIT — Canada’s emergency preparedness minister says the passengers of an Air India flight that landed in Iqaluit due to a bomb threat remain stuck there, and he has approved a request for the military to help them.

Harjit Sajjan posted on X late Tuesday that the airline “hasn’t found a solution” after the plane landed in Nunavut’s capital with 211 passengers on board earlier in the day and that they are “stranded.”

He says in the post that despite great efforts, Iqaluit is not equipped to house the passengers, and that after consulting with Transport Minister Anita Anand, he has given the green light for Canadian Forces resources to “ease the pressure on Iqaluit and send passengers safely to their destination in Chicago.”

Defence Minister Bill Blair noted in another post on X that the government has approved a request for an airlift to get the passengers to Chicago.

RCMP said earlier Tuesday that Air India Flight 127 was en route from New Delhi to Chicago, but landed instead at the Iqaluit International Airport at 5:21 a.m.

Air India said earlier in the day that the landing was a precautionary measure, and that it and other airlines have been subject to “a number of threats” in recent days which have later been found to be hoaxes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2024.