NEW DELHI, Aug 20: An Indian Airlines plane about to take off from New Delhi for Srinagar was surrounded by troops on Wednesday after a false hijack alarm at the airport, police said.

The plane, with 53 people on board, had taxied to the runway around 11am fly to Srinagar when air traffic controllers received a alarm signal from the cockpit.

The Airbus A320 was ordered to park on the side of the runway and encircled by security forces as passengers were ordered off the plane.

“It was a false alarm. The anti-hijacking remote transponder malfunctioned and transmitted signals to the air traffic control,” aviation minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy told a news conference, adding there was no pilot error.

The transponder is used to transmit signals at specific frequencies in case of a hijack.

The reaction to the alarm was swift and the first group of security personnel reached the plane in seven minutes, Rudy said.

The 10-year-old aircraft, leased from an Irish firm, had joined Indian Airlines’ fleet only on Tuesday. The transponder, that came with the plane, is the first equipment of its kind on any Indian jet, Rudy said.

Flights to and from Srinagar are subject to intense security because of fears of hijacks.—Reuters