3 flights receive bomb threats in 24 hours, more than 35 scam calls this week

The Vistara flight, diverted to Frankfurt, then took off for London. (Representative)

New Delhi:

Three flights received bomb threats in less than 24 hours, adding to a long list of prank calls received by airlines this week, triggering an unprecedented security alert. A London-bound Vistara flight from Delhi (UK17) was diverted to Frankfurt, Germany after a bomb threat. A Jaipur-Dubai flight of Air India Express (IX 196) received a threat, which turned out to be false. Meanwhile, an Akasa Air flight (QP 1366) from Bangalore to Mumbai also received a bomb threat shortly before departure.

The bomb scare on the Dubai-Jaipur flight of Air India Express delayed the takeoff of the Jaipur-Dubai flight (IX 195) from the airport. Takeoff was scheduled for 6:10 a.m. today, but it left at 7:45 a.m. for Dubai. The flight is en route to its destination. Meanwhile, the Vistara flight, diverted to Frankfurt, then took off for London.

“Vistara flight UK17 operating from Delhi to London on October 18, 2024 received a security threat on social media. As per protocol, all relevant authorities were immediately informed and as a precautionary measure, the pilots decided to divert the flight to Frankfurt,” the spokesperson said.

Akasa Air said: “In accordance with safety and security procedures, all passengers had to be deplaned as local authorities followed the necessary procedures. We ask for your understanding as our ground team did everything possible to minimize inconvenience .”

Since Monday, at least 35 flights have received such threats, prompting the civil aviation ministry and authorities to put in place strict standards to deal with such situations.

Sources earlier told NDTV that airlines had given their views on the situation and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had suggested that several measures would be taken, such as listing hoaxes on the list of flight ban for five years. Airlines suggest that losses they suffered due to false bomb threats be recovered from defendants.

What the Minister of Civil Aviation said

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said on Thursday that initial investigations did not point to a conspiracy and that most of the calls were “made by minors and pranksters”.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested by Mumbai police on Wednesday for making threats against four flights on Monday, including three on international routes. Authorities said the teenager wanted to frame one of his friends, with whom he had had a dispute over money.

Mr Naidu also said his department was considering changes to rules and legislation to ensure such bomb calls do not happen again in the future.

“We can’t comment on a conspiracy, but no matter what little we know, it (the threats) comes from minors or some pranksters. For very trivial things, they try to make threats on social media or through the through phone calls, so these are isolated incidents, there is no sort of conspiracy that we can comment on,” the minister said on Thursday.

Mr Naidu said steps were being taken to ensure a “strict barrier is created for people trying to pull these kinds of pranks” and his ministry is seeking to change rules and legislation to achieve this.