Over a dozen flights got bomb threats on Friday; Vistara Delhi-London flight diverted to Frankfurt | Business News

With these incidents, the number of confirmed instances of bomb threats to Indian carriers’ flights this week has risen to over 45. As was the case Friday night, all the threats came from unverified and anonymous accounts on social media platform X. All these threats have turned out to be fake.

“We confirm that three Vistara flights operating out of Delhi on 18 October 2024 received security threats on social media. As per protocol, all the relevant authorities were promptly alerted. Vistara flight UK17 operating from Delhi to London was diverted to Frankfurt as a precautionary measure. The aircraft landed at Frankfurt Airport safely and we fully cooperated with the authorities to complete the necessary checks following which, the flight was cleared to conclude the journey,” a Vistara spokesperson said.

The other two affected Vistara flight—UK21 (Delhi-Paris) and UK161 (Delhi-Hong Kong)—landed safely at their respective destinations, where all the requisite security procedures were followed.

Air India has so far not commented on the social media threats to six of its flights, all of which were international flights. Air India Express has also not commented on the threats posted for two of its flights—IX196 (Dubai-Jaipur) and IX141 (Lucknow-Dammam). Sources indicated that all the required security protocols were followed and all the threats turned out to be fake.

On Friday, Akasa Air said its flight QP1366, set to depart from Bengaluru to Mumbai, had received a security alert just ahead of take-off. “Hence as per safety and security procedures, all passengers had to be deplaned as the local authorities followed necessary procedures. We request your understanding as our team on ground did everything possible to reduce inconvenience,” the airline said in a post on X.

This spate of bomb threats started on Monday when three international flights of Indian carriers had received hoax bomb threats. Another ten flights had received threats on Tuesday, while on Wednesday, there were at least seven threats. All major scheduled Indian carriers have received these bomb threats.

Union Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu has expressed deep concern over the “disruptive acts”. Mumbai Police had apprehended a minor responsible for issuing bomb threats on Monday to three flights. However, social media threats have continued and only risen over subsequent days. Naidu expressed confidence that that others responsible for the disruptions will be identified and prosecuted.

The relevant government ministries—including the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)—and agencies have gone into a huddle in view of these bomb threats. MoCA is understood to be working closely with the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to formalise an earlier proposal of putting the perpetrators of hoax bomb threats on the no-fly list. Agencies are also learnt to be in contact with social media platforms and virtual private network (VPN) service providers to trace these threats.

Security agencies and police forces in different parts of the country are probing the threats and trying to trace and nab those behind them. Sources indicated that security has been tightened and emergency response personnel put on alert at various Indian airports.

Although most bomb threats turn out to be fake, airlines as well as aviation authorities globally take them with utmost seriousness. The security checks, which often take a few hours, result in disruptions like delays and even rescheduling of the remainder of the flight in some cases, which hit the airlines financially.

When an aircraft receives a bomb threat deemed as a specific threat, a detailed security protocol is followed which could include diverting the aircraft to a suitable nearby airport and taking it to an isolated bay, where passengers are quickly made to deplane. The aircraft as well as passengers’ bags and the plane’s cargo are subject to a thorough security screening. After the screening and security checks, if the threat is found to be a hoax, the aircraft is released for operations.