Air India Flight Delayed for 4 Hours Due to Bomb Hoax

Bomb hoax in Air India flight: Passengers held up for 4 hours | Thiruvananthapuram News - Times of India

T'puram: Passengers of a Mumbai-Thiruvananthapuram Air India flight (AI 657) were held up for more than four hours following a hoax bomb threat on Thursday. The flight, with 135 people including crew onboard, made a safe landing at 7.50am after a full emergency was declared and crash tender vehicles were mobilised at the airport. The pilot informed air traffic control that the aircraft was facing a bomb threat after a message scribbled on a tissue paper was found in one of the toilets at 7.30am.The plane was scheduled to land around 8am. Soon after touchdown, the aircraft was taken to an isolation bay, and passengers were evacuated. The baggage and the aircraft were checked to find out if an explosive was placed anywhere. However, the passengers were held up for hours because the bags were released only after a thorough check, and everyone was questioned to find out who must have placed the tissue paper with the message about the bomb inside the toilet. After the check, the authorities declared that it was a case of a hoax threat and allowed the passengers to leave at 12.45pm, said an official. The police suspect that it could be a prank message left by one of the passengers on the flight, but they could not identify who was behind it, said an official. One passenger is under suspicion. The return flight (AI 658) was cancelled. The airline is arranging alternative arrangements for passengers. The incident did not affect the operation of other flights, and the emergency was lifted at 2.15pm. T'puram: Passengers of a Mumbai-Thiruvananthapuram Air India flight (AI 657) were held up for more than four hours following a hoax bomb threat on Thursday. The flight, with 135 people including crew onboard, made a safe landing at 7.50am after a full emergency was declared and crash tender vehicles were mobilised at the airport. The pilot informed air traffic control that the aircraft was facing a bomb threat after a message scribbled on a tissue paper was found in one of the toilets at 7.30am. The plane was scheduled to land around 8am. Soon after touchdown, the aircraft was taken to an isolation bay, and passengers were evacuated. The baggage and the aircraft were checked to find out if an explosive was placed anywhere. However, the passengers were held up for hours because the bags were released only after a thorough check, and everyone was questioned to find out who must have placed the tissue paper with the message about the bomb inside the toilet. After the check, the authorities declared that it was a case of a hoax threat and allowed the passengers to leave at 12.45pm, said an official. The police suspect that it could be a prank message left by one of the passengers on the flight, but they could not identify who was behind it, said an official. One passenger is under suspicion. The return flight (AI 658) was cancelled. The airline is arranging alternative arrangements for passengers. The incident did not affect the operation of other flights, and the emergency was lifted at 2.15pm.

Bomb hoax in Air India flight: Passengers held up for 4 hours - Times of India

T'puram: Passengers of a Mumbai-Thiruvananthapuram Air India flight (AI 657) were held up for more than four hours following a hoax bomb threat on Thursday. The flight, with 135 people including crew onboard, made a safe landing at 7.50am after a full emergency was declared and crash tender vehicles were mobilised at the airport. The pilot informed air traffic control that the aircraft was facing a bomb threat after a message scribbled on a tissue paper was found in one of the toilets at 7.30am.The plane was scheduled to land around 8am. Soon after touchdown, the aircraft was taken to an isolation bay, and passengers were evacuated. The baggage and the aircraft were checked to find out if an explosive was placed anywhere. However, the passengers were held up for hours because the bags were released only after a thorough check, and everyone was questioned to find out who must have placed the tissue paper with the message about the bomb inside the toilet. After the check, the authorities declared that it was a case of a hoax threat and allowed the passengers to leave at 12.45pm, said an official. The police suspect that it could be a prank message left by one of the passengers on the flight, but they could not identify who was behind it, said an official. One passenger is under suspicion. The return flight (AI 658) was cancelled. The airline is arranging alternative arrangements for passengers. The incident did not affect the operation of other flights, and the emergency was lifted at 2.15pm.

Mumbai-Thiruvananthapuram Air India flight makes emergency landing after bomb threat

Security personnel inspect an Air India aircraft in the Thiruvananthapuram airport on Thursday after a bomb threat was received mid-flight. An Air India flight (AI 657 (BOM-TRV) from Mumbai with 135 passengers and crew onboard made an emergency landing at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport here on Thursday morning after a bomb threat to the aircraft. The flight that had left Mumbai in the morning received the bomb alert while en route to its destination. A handwritten note on a tissue paper threatening a bomb onboard the flight was found in the flight's lavatory. The pilot then passed on the information to the Air Traffic Control unit in Thiruvananthapuram and requested an emergency landing. Following this, a full emergency was declared at the airport at 7.36 a.m., and the aircraft landed safely at the airport around 8 a.m. with fire tenders and ambulances on standby. The flight was then taxied to the isolation bay, where all the passengers were disembarked. The emergency was withdrawn by 12.10 p.m., and all but one of the passengers were released around 12.45 p.m. after the mandatory inspections and baggage screening. A passenger suspected of having written the note has been detained by the Valiyathura police. His identity was not disclosed till evening. The police said the detained passenger seemed mentally disturbed. No arrest has been made with the passenger denying any involvement in the incident. He would be let off once his parents were summoned. For the time being, a first information report had been registered, and an investigation was under way, the police said. Test of preparedness For the airport authorities, the emergency landing tested their preparedness for such situations. The emergency was declared within seconds of receiving the alert from the flight. Crash fire tenders were kept ready in the isolation bay under the aegis of Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting. Facilities, including ladders, were put in place to evacuate passengers quickly. The bomb detection and disposal squad of the CISF made arrangements to defuse the bomb soon after the landing. As soon as the aircraft landed, the passengers were shifted to the isolation bay, where their physical and baggage screening was done by the members of the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS). Arrangements made Later, the Valiyathura police took over the investigation. A thorough check inside the plane confirmed that the threat was false. No other services were delayed or disrupted during the five-hour process. The flight was to depart for Mumbai on Thursday morning. The airline made arrangements for those whose journeys had been cancelled due to the hoax bomb scare.The aircraft with 123 passengers on board was scheduled to return to Mumbai by Thursday 9 p.m., said airport sources. Read Comments