Vistara's Frankfurt-Mumbai flight UK 028 received a bomb threat on Friday, prompting the flight to make an emergency landing in Mumbai. The bomb threat on the flight was made through social media.
There were 147 passengers on board the flight. After landing the aircraft was taken to an isolation area, where all passengers were safely disembarked. Earlier on Wednesday, bomb threats were received in seven more flights. Which includes four flights of IndiGo, 2 of SpiceJet and one of Akasa.
A total of 20 planes have received bomb threats in the last 3 days. On October 15, bomb threats were received on 7 flights. An Air India Express flight from Delhi to Chicago was also involved in this flight. It was diverted to Canada and landed at Iqaluit Airport.
During the investigation, it was found that the news that there was a bomb in this flight was false. However, security has been beefed up at all airports. The Center on Wednesday decided to double the number of air marshals on flights amid persistent threats. They will be in plain clothes on the plane. Apart from this, the Ministry of Home Affairs has sought a report from the Ministry of Aviation.
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Identification of sender of threatening messages – Ministry of Aviation
On Wednesday, the aviation ministry responded to a parliamentary committee on sending threatening messages to airlines. The ministry said that the accused have been identified and action is being taken. It also said that more information is being collected and action is being taken on many such cases.
According to media reports, all cyber units have been instructed to track threatening social media accounts. Most of these accounts are being operated from abroad.
October 15: A person sent threats, all of which turned out to be false
Bomb threats were received on 7 flights on Tuesday. Air India flight from Delhi to Chicago was also included in the threatened flights. After this he was diverted to Canada.
The plane landed at Iqaluit Airport in Canada. Passengers and their luggage were checked here. Security agencies conducted anti-terror drills at several airports due to threat on 7 flights throughout the day.
Investigation revealed that all the threats were sent by the same person on social media platform X. However, these threats later turned out to be false.
October 9: Vistara's London-Delhi flight received threats written on tissue paper
Earlier on October 9, there was a commotion after receiving information that there was a bomb in Vistara Airlines flight UK18 from London to Delhi. About 3.5 hours before the flight reached Delhi, a passenger found a threatening tissue paper in the plane's toilet. He informed the crew member.
The flight landed in Delhi and was taken to an isolation area, where all passengers' luggage was checked. However, nothing resembling a bomb was found. After this, questions were raised regarding the fact that the plane continued to fly in the air for 3 and a half hours despite receiving information about the bomb. The police questioned the crew members as to why the plane was brought to Delhi despite the bomb threat.
Land clearance can be sought only in the nearest country. The pilot and crew members, when questioned by the police, said there was a threat of hijacking the plane if the flight landed en route. To avoid this, the flight was brought directly to Delhi.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
