Police say bomb threat on Air India flight from Mumbai is a hoax

Police have opened an investigation into the incident. | Photo: Company

2 min read Last updated: August 22, 2024 | 4:44 p.m. IST

A bomb threat message in the toilet of an AI flight from Mumbai, which led to a full emergency being declared at Thiruvananthapuram airport on Thursday, has turned out to be a hoax, police said.

A senior police official in Thiruvananthapuram city said the threat was a hoax.

Police also said no explosives were found on board the plane after an intensive search by security agencies.

The state of emergency declared at the airport in the morning was lifted around 12:10 p.m., airport sources said, adding that the 135 passengers travelling on the flight were allowed to depart at 12:45 p.m.

Police have opened an investigation into the incident.

Earlier in the morning, the pilot of the plane informed ATC about the threat after a message reading “Bomb in flight”, written on a tissue, was found in the plane’s toilet, the sources said.

The bomb threat was raised by the pilot at 7.30 am as the plane was approaching the Thiruvananthapuram airport, sources said.

Subsequently, a full emergency was declared at the airport at 7:36 a.m., they said.

The plane with 135 passengers on board then landed safely at the airport around 8am and was moved to an isolation bay.

Passengers were evacuated around 8:44 a.m. and security agencies, including a bomb detection team, inspected the plane for explosive devices, the sources said.

As a result, passengers had to wait at the airport for their luggage to be delivered, they said.

Meanwhile, Air India said in a statement that a specific safety alert was detected on flight AI 657 while cruising from Mumbai to Thiruvananthapuram and “the crew conducted all scheduled safety drills, keeping the safety of passengers as the top priority”.

“All passengers and crew have deplaned safely. Air India gives top priority to the safety of its passengers and crew,” an airline spokesperson said.

(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First published: August 22, 2024 | 4:44 p.m. IST