Blip on radar causes delay in landing of PM's flight

CURIOUS BLIP: The PM's flight's pilot was directed to hover for 16 minutes as a security measure.

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Keywords: Blip, PM

New Delhi: An unidentified blip on the radar of the air traffic control in Delhi on Tuesday caused a scare leading to a delay in the landing of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special aircraft at the IGI airport in Delhi.

The Airport Authority of India has begun an enquiry into the incident which led the ATC officers to ask the pilot of the Prime Minister's aircraft to hover over for about 15 minutes before landing, AAI sources said.

As the PM's flight, which was coming from Ranchi was nearing Delhi, the ATC identified a blip on the radar which appeared to be chasing the PM's flight, the sources said.

Concerned over this, the ATC directed the flight to hover over for 16 minutes before allowing it to land on runway 28 at the IGI.

The PM's aircraft landed safely after sometime.

Asked as to what this blip could mean, AAI sources said that it could be an aircraft carrying a transponder on board which could be connected to the secondary radars on ground.

However, the sources said this was not possible as it did not have a call sign which any aircraft would have.

They also said this could be a systemic fault for which an enquiry has been ordered.