SINGAPORE — The pilots and weapons systems officers manning the two Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) fighter jets which were scrambled to escort a Scoot aircraft back to Changi Airport following a bomb hoax said they “suited up and took off within minutes”.

“It was only when we were airborne that we received details and further orders of the mission,” they said on Friday (April 6) in response to media queries.

“We have gone through regular and rigorous training to ensure that we are always ready for the task.”

Pilots Captain Loy Shi Bin and Captain James Chai Wang Cong, as well as weapon systems officers (Fighter) Captain Chong Qiu Wei and Major Peter Liow Tian Heng added that they perform operational standby duties regularly.

“As a whole, the RSAF works with other national ministries and agencies to monitor the skies over Singapore and respond swiftly and decisively to potential air threats on a 24/7 basis,” they added.

Thursday’s bomb scare saw a Scoot Airbus A320 bound for Hat Yai in south Thailand escorted back to Changi Airport.

Flight TR634, which had 173 passengers and six crew members on board, landed safely at around 3.20pm.

A 41-year-old Singaporean man was arrested, while his two travel companions assisted the police with investigations.

The man had claimed, to a crew member, that he had a bomb in his hand-carry baggage, preliminary police investigations revealed. After searching the plane and the belongings of the man, and his companions, the police found no threat.

The fighter jets linked up with the Scoot aircraft over the South China Sea.

“Once we had successfully joined up with the Scoot plane, we established communications with the pilots through the assigned radio frequency, informing them that they were being escorted by the RSAF fighters to comply with all our instructions,” said the air force officers.

The fighter jets also got the Scoot pilots’ attention by flying close to the civilian plane so that they could see them.

“We checked visually if there were any abnormal activities within the cockpit and the cabin. We then escorted the Scoot plane to land while constantly ensuring that the pilots complied with all our instructions,” they added.

On the ground, the RSAF Ground-Based Air Defence units and other assets are put on high alert. If the airline pilot had ignored the instructions of the RSAF pilots, the fighter jets will have adhered to the RSAF’s standard procedures to intercept the aircraft, in accordance with international law.

The last time RSAF fighter jets were scrambled to respond to an air threat was in January 2008, when a Cessna 208 light aircraft flew into Singapore’s airspace. It did not have an approved flight plan to fly into local airspace.

Two RSAF fighter jets escorted the aircraft back to Changi Airport. The pilot, an Australian, was fined S$5,000 for flying without an airworthiness certificate.

The RSAF also said in November 2016 that it deals with more than 350 such suspicious air threats involving civilian aircraft leaving, entering or flying near Singapore every year.