Five parachutes that entered Mumbai airport airspace were remote controlled: Report

The five suspected parachutes seen in the Mumbai airport airspace on Saturday were remote or radio-controlled, reported a leading daily.

The report cited sources from three different agencies to say that the five unmanned objects were controlled, adding that the PMO's office has asked various agencies to investigate the matter. Agencies including the Indian Air Force, Navy, Intelligence Bureau and Mumbai police have been asked to probe and submit a report. 

However, two days after airport officials informed local police about the incident, it remains a mystery as to where the parachutes disappeared.

Following the alert from airport officials, Mumbai police found themselves caught in a jurisdiction issue. Since nothing "concrete" has been found to establish that the parachutes were actually there, the police have not registered any case so far.

On Saturday, when the Jet Airways flight 9W323 was about to leave for Ahmedabad, its pilot spotted five parachutes around 15,000 feet above sea level. The pilot immediately informed Air Traffic Control about the sighting. The information was then passed on to the airport police.

As per aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) laws, paragliding, hot balloons, drones, sky lanterns or any other form of flying objects are strictly not allowed near airport premises.

Paragliding is considered to be a recreational and adventure sport, wherein a pilot sits in a harness suspended below a fabric wing, comprising a large number of interconnected baffled cells.

Joint commissioner of police, law and order, Deven Bharti, said the police have found no concrete clue about the incident.

Following reports from central intelligence agencies that terrorist elements might carry out an airborne attack, the Mumbai police have banned the use of drones, remote-controlled aerial missiles, paragliders and remote-controlled micro-light aircraft in the city.

(With inputs from dna correspondent)