Mumbai: A Pune-Delhi Akasa flight with 185 passengers onboard made an emergency landing at the Mumbai Airport after a passenger claimed that he had a bomb in his bag, officials said on Saturday (October 21).
The diverted flight landed in Mumbai in the early hours of Saturday after nearly 40 minutes of takeoff from the Pune airport, the airlines said in a statement today. The flight took off for Delhi at around 6 am after the bomb claim turned out to be hoax.
"At around 2.30 am today a CISF officer informed the Mumbai Police Control, after which the luggage of the passenger of that flight was searched in the presence of Bomb Detection and Disposable Squad (BDDS) team, as well as police officers. But during an investigation the police did not find any suspicious object," a police officer said.
The passenger who claimed he had a bomb was taken to a hospital after the plane made the emergency landing at the Mumbai airport as he complained of chest pain.
According to police, a relative accompanying the passenger on the flight said that he had taken medicine due to chest pain.
Airlines confirms incident
Akasa Airlines confirmed the occurrence of the incident in a statement.
"Akasa Air flight QP 1148, flying from Pune to Delhi at 00:07 hrs on October 21, 2023, and carrying 185 passengers and six crew members on board, received a security alert shortly after take-off. As per safety and security procedures, the plane was diverted to Mumbai. The Captain followed all required emergency procedures and landed safely at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at 00:42 hrs," Akasa Airlines said.
After receiving police clearance, the flight left for Delhi from Mumbai airport around 6 am.
Mumbai Police is further investigating the matter.
(With ANI inputs)
