Bomb threat causes Air India emergency landing in Iqaluit

An Air India flight made an emergency landing in Iqaluit Tuesday morning due to an online bomb threat.

Flight AI127 was en route from New Delhi to Chicago, when it took the precautionary measure of landing at the Iqaluit airport, according to a written statement from Air India.

Air India said it, and other Indian airlines, have been subject to a number of threats in recent days.

"Though all have subsequently been found to be hoaxes, as a responsible airline operator, all threats are taken seriously," said the company.

It said it's considering legal action against the "perpetrators of such threats to ensure that they are held accountable for the disruption and inconvenience caused to passengers" and to recover damages to the airline. 

Nunavut RCMP said all 211 passengers and crew disembarked the aircraft around 5:20 a.m. and were relocated to Iqaluit International Airport. 

As of Tuesday afternoon, dozens of pizzas had been delivered to the passengers, who had been expected to stay in Iqaluit overnight.

However, on Tuesday evening, federal officials indicated that military resources would be used to help the stranded passengers get to Chicago.

"Despite great efforts, the city of Iqaluit is not equipped to house these passengers," Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan said in a statement shared on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter.

In the statement, Sajjan said he'd consulted with Transport Minister Anita Anand and "approved a request" for Canadian Forces resources "to ease the pressure on Iqaluit and send passengers safely to their destination in Chicago."

Sajjan did not specify the manner in which the Canadian Forces would send the passengers to their destination.

But 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.

Initially, Cpl. George Henrie said Nunavut police would be investigating the bomb threat. However, later on Tuesday, Nunavut RCMP said the RCMP Federal Policing Northwest Region's Federal Arctic Unit would be taking over the investigation.

RCMP explosive specialists arrived in Iqaluit Tuesday night to help investigate, since there are no explosive disposal units in the territory. 

On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of supporting a campaign of violence against Canadians on Canadian soil, and expelled six Indian diplomats. 

That came hours after RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme held a press conference about how Mounties have learned a "significant amount of information about the breadth and depth of criminal activity orchestrated by agents of the government of India and consequential threats to the safety and security of Canadians and individuals living in Canada."

Tuesday's emergency landing came less than a year after Canada began investigating other threats against Air India.