The Royal Air Force scrambled fighter jets to escort an Air India passenger plane to London Stansted Airport, the MoD said. The airline earlier said on Twitter that there was a bomb threat before deleting the tweet.

The Boeing 777-300ER airliner departed India’s largest city early in the morning and was scheduled to arrive at Newark Liberty International Airport at around 06:00 EDT (10:00 GMT).

Air India flight #AI191 just diverted to Stansted due to a bomb threathttps://t.co/XzwA9pssoapic.twitter.com/udBo2K8ADY — Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) June 27, 2019

Airport authorities confirmed a precautionary landing was conducted for the Indian plane followed by a closure of the runway. The air hub has since gone fully operational again.

The airline earlier tweeted that its flight from Mumbai to Newark landed in London “due to bomb threat.” The tweet was deleted about 20 minutes after publication. Essex police for its part later said there had been a security alert.

Meanwhile, Flight radar data shows the aircraft was diverted to London after reaching Northern Ireland on its path towards the US east coast.

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The airline later said that the plane was diverted over a hoax bomb threat. A follow-up check found no explosive device, it added.

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