In a significant development, Indigo flight 6E133 from Pune to Jodhpur received a bomb threat on Monday (October 20) afternoon, prompting landing at Jodhpur airport. The flight landed safely at 1:07 PM, with all passengers unharmed.
According to the information received, upon receiving the threat, airport authorities immediately took action, guiding the aircraft to an isolated area of the airport for further inspection. Emergency teams, including the fire brigade, dog squad, police, and administrative officials, also quickly arrived at the scene.
Moreover, the luggage of the passengers, along with the entire aircraft, is being thoroughly searched by security personnel to ensure safety.
Hoax calls disrupted domestic, international flights
It is pertinent to note that this week has been very disruptive for the Indian aviation sector. More than 70 domestic and international flights of Indian airlines have received bomb threats. However, most of them turned out to be hoaxes.
As many as six flights of Vistara, five each of IndiGo and Akasa Air received security threats, according to the airlines.
30 flights receive bomb threats mostly through social media
The sources said more than 30 flights received bomb threats mostly through social media since Saturday morning. In at least one of the flights, a note was found in the lavatory saying there was a bomb in the flight.
The five flights of Vistara that received threats are UK106 (Singapore to Mumbai), UK027 (Mumbai to Frankfurt), UK107 (Mumbai to Singapore), UK121 (Delhi to Bangkok) and UK131 (Mumbai to Colombo).
"Following the protocol, all relevant authorities were promptly alerted and all security procedures are being adhered to, as per the guidance from the authorities and security agencies," an airline spokesperson said in a statement.
Besides, there was a security concern regarding Vistara flight UK624 from Udaipur to Mumbai, and after landing, the aircraft was taken to an isolation bay for mandatory checks.
A note was found in the lavatory of the aircraft saying there is a bomb in the flight, a source in the know said.
Also, the airline's flight UK027 from Mumbai to Frankfurt had a security concern and the flight landed safely at the Frankfurt airport. In the morning, the flight had received a bomb threat through social media.
Akasa Air received security threats for five flights -- QP 1323 (Bengaluru to Guwahati), QP 1371 (Goa to Mumbai), QP 1373 (Bagdogra to Bengaluru), QP 1385 (Mumbai to Bagdogra), and QP 1405 (Hyderabad to Delhi).
"Following defined procedures and after thorough inspections of all five aircraft, they have been released," an airline spokesperson said.
IndiGo issued statements for five flights in relation to threats received by them. They are 6E17 (Mumbai to Istanbul), 6E11 (Delhi to Istanbul), 6E184 (Jodhpur to Delhi), 6E108 (Hyderabad to Chandigarh), and 6E58 (Jeddah to Mumbai).
Regarding the two flights to Istanbul, the airline said the passengers disembarked safely. The Jodhpur-Delhi flight, the carrier said, landed in the national capital and customers have disembarked the aircraft.
About the Hyderabad-Chandigarh flight, and Jeddah-Mumbai flight, IndiGo said upon landing, the aircraft were isolated and all passengers were safely disembarked.
Among others, an Alliance Air flight from Kochi to Bengaluru received a bomb threat. With a significant number of flights receiving threats, passengers as well as staff at some of the airports faced a tough time since the planes concerned were moved to isolation bays and security protocol had to be followed.
The handle on X, through which some of the bomb threats to flights were issued, has been deactivated. Meanwhile, the civil aviation ministry plans to put in place strict norms to prevent incidents of hoax bomb threats to airlines, including placing the perpetrators in the no-fly list.
(With PTI inputs)
