The Bagdogra-Bengaluru Akasa Air flight received a bomb threat which was communicated to the pilot, the airline said in an official statement. This was the seventh such threat incident on Tuesday.
In yet another bomb threat in a plane, an Akasa Air Bagdogra to Bengaluru flight (QP 1373) carrying 167 passengers received a bomb threat on Tuesday. Two infants and seven crew members were also present when the threat was received. This was 7th flight to receive such threats in one day and the 10th in two days. On Monday, three international flights from Mumbai had to return midway after bomb threats.
Three International-bound flights, including one to New York, returned midway following a security concern arising out of a bomb threat in the aircraft, officials said on Monday. The aircraft were taken to the isolation bay and the passengers disembarked.
Security Agencies’ Submit Report To Aviation Ministry
Meanwhile, the central security agencies have given their initial report to the Ministry of Civil Aviation in a high-level meeting following 10 bomb threats received from Sunday-Tuesday. The meeting was chaired by Minister of Civil Aviation, Ram Mohan Naidu and Bureau of Civil Aviation, CISF, and other senior officials in airport security were present in the meet.
The CISF has confirmed that more than 10 bomb threats have been received on social media. An elaborate operation involving multiple agencies has been launched to track down the sender of threat Tweets.
Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (i4C), has also started to investigate the matter. The investigators suspect the real address to have been suppressed in multiple layers of encryption and will use advanced “unmasking programmes” to identify the sender. The flight details could have been procured from open-source data
Akasa Air On Bagdogra-Bengaluru Flight Bomb Threat
On the Bengaluru-bound flight, according to Akasa Air official statement, the Captain followed all required emergency procedures and landed safely at Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru at 01:39 pm.
“All passengers were deplaned, and the local authorities undertook the necessary safety and security checks after which, the aircraft was released for operations. The Akasa Air team was on ground to assist all passengers, including providing regular updates and refreshments throughout the process,” the Airline said.
“On completion of all required safety procedures, passengers exited the airport terminal at 16:30hrs. At Akasa Air, passenger safety and comfort are our highest priority, and our crew followed all protocols according to our operating procedures,” it added.
This is reportedly the seventh such incident today. Earlier, an Air India Express (AIX 685) Madurai-Singapore flight also received a bomb threat.
(1/3) Air India Express received an email that there was a bomb on board flight AXB684 that was bound for Singapore. Two of our RSAF F-15SGs scrambled and escorted the plane away from populated areas, to finally land safely at Singapore Changi Airport at around 10:04pm tonight. pic.twitter.com/tOzo6wgT5E
— Ng Eng Hen (@Ng_Eng_Hen) October 15, 2024
10 flights that received bomb threats are:
- Air India Delhi-Chicago
- Air India Express Jaipur-Ayodhya
- Indigo Dammam-Lucknow Flight
- IndiGo Bengaluru-Dehradun flight was diverted to Chandigarh due to a threat.
- Akasa Air Bagdogra-Benbgaluru flight
- Air India Express Madurai-Singapore Flight
- SpiceJet Darbhanga-Mumbai Flight
- Air India FlightMumbai to JFK
- IndiGo Flight Mumbai to Jeddah
- IndiGo Flight Mumbai to Muscat