A string of bomb threats against ten planes in less than 48 hours is now the subject of a Bureau of Civil Aviation Security investigation. Authorities on Tuesday located threats to seven flights, including one headed for the United States, which came from an unverified account on X, formerly Twitter.
Air India Flight AI 127 was en route from Delhi to Chicago. However, following the threat received, the flight had to be diverted to the Iqaluit Airport in Canada as a precautionary measure. The flight from Delhi, which had taken off at 3 AM, landed safely at the remote airport. Both passengers and the aircraft underwent re-screening according to laid-down security procedures. In addition, Air India has also activated its support agencies at Iqaluit to look after the passengers until they can resume their journey.
IndiGo Flight 6E 98, which was flying from Saudi Arabia’s Dammam to Lucknow, was also diverted for an emergency landing at Jaipur due to a bomb threat. “We take the safety of our people very seriously and are taking all the necessary precautions in consultation with relevant authorities,” an IndiGo spokesperson said.
Other targeted flights included Air India Express flight IX 765, which made an emergency landing in Ayodhya around 2 PM. Other flights that received similar threats included Akasa Air service from Bagdogra to Bengaluru, Alliance Air from Amritsar to Dehradun, and Air India Express from Madurai to Singapore.
Two of them were operated by IndiGo, and one was operated by Air India. On Monday, three international flights reported receiving bomb threats that later turned out to be hoax calls. Air India flight AI119, which was operating for New York’s JFK Airport, had to make an emergency landing in New Delhi.
Top officials of airlines said that while such hoax calls fleece the finances, seriousness is afforded to keep the safety concern.
