Indian military officials ordered a United States airplane carrying 205 Marines to land at Mumbai airport on Sunday over an airspace clearance dispute. "The Indian Air Force had to instruct the US plane to land as it did not have the mandatory clearance required to fly in Indian airspace," Indian Air Force spokesman T.K. Singha told AFP.
The chartered plan was on its way from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates to Bangkok when it was forced to land. All passengers remained on board as US authorities applied for the missing paperwork, Singha said.
Foreign military aircraft have to obtain two sets of clearances before flying over India. "The US aircraft had procured clearance from India's Directorate of Civil Aviation but they did not have Air Operations Routing (AOR) clearance," Singha said.