Turkish Airlines denies any radioactive material on flight that landed in New Delhi

Turkish Airlines has issued a statement claiming that flight TK716 from Istanbul to Delhi did not carry any radioactive material. 

In an emailed response to dna, Dr Ali Genç, SVP Media Relations Turkish Airlines said, "Upon having been informed of the mentioned situation,  Turkish Airlines’s relevant cargo and technical teams have effectuated the necessary controls and radiological surveys on-board the aircraft landed back to Istanbul but no evidence has been detected. The necessary information on the incident has been made to the relevant official authorities by Turkish Airlines.”

He said, "The cargo package containing medical material and carried by Turkish Airlines’ TK716  Istanbul - Delhi flight has been examined by the official authorities in Delhi on suspicion of radioactive leak due to the wetness seen on the mentioned package." 

Earlier in the day, the airport authorities at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport said that a radioactive material had leaked from a medical shipment. The government further said that the leak was contained and there was no risk to passengers. 

A Reuters report said, "The leak was found at the airport's cargo-handling complex in a consignment of sodium iodide 131 - a radioactive liquid used in so-called nuclear medicine - that had been on board an inbound Turkish Airlines passenger flight." 

"This area is far away from any of the passenger terminals and there is absolutely no risk of exposure to any passengers," Delhi International Airport Ltd, the airport's operator, said in a statement.

"The said area has been cordoned off and as per the preliminary assessment ... the material has been termed as that of low radio activity."

Sodium iodide 131 is used to treat hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancers. It emits radiation and must be handled with care to minimise inadvertent exposure to health workers and patients.

The site was cordoned off by an emergency response team that included representatives of India's National Disaster Response Force and atomic regulators.

"It's a localised leak," R. Bhattacharya, vice-chairman of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, told Reuters by telephone.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was holding a news conference when news of the leak broke, said atomic experts had been immediately dispatched to the scene.

"We have been getting regular updates on the situation at the airport," he told reporters. "The leak is under control but we are leaving no stone unturned to check all possibilities of the leakage."

(With Reuters)