Bomb threat: Air India Mumbai-New York flight diverted to Delhi

An Air India plane that was flying from Mumbai to New York on Monday morning had to divert and land in Delhi after a security threat alarm. Various reports say the action was taken after officials at the Mumbai airport received a message on microblogging platform X, which raised a bomb threat on the said flight.

Understanding the seriousness of the situation, the crew informed security agencies and it was decided to divert the flight towards Delhi. After all the passengers were safely deboarded from the plane, the officials started the inspection following all standard safety protocols and security agencies were put on alert. Officials have requested the media to refrain from spreading misinformation, saying that correct information will be shared in due course.

The aircraft departed around 2:27 am on Monday and made a landing one-and-a-half hours later. There has been no official statement from the authorities if it was a hoax or a real threat. Guests have been moved to hotels and the flight has been rescheduled for October 15, 2024.

"Flight AI119 operating Mumbai to JFK on October 14 received a specific security alert and on instructions of the government's security regulatory committee was diverted to Delhi. We confirm that all 239 passengers and 19 crew have disembarked. Refreshments have been provided to the passengers. Our staff on the ground are making sure to minimise the inconvenience caused to our guests by this unexpected disruption. Air India is committed to and accords top priority to the safety and security of its passengers and crew," Air India says in an official statement.

Media reports also say that two IndiGo flights departing from Mumbai to Muscat (6E 1275) and Jeddah (6E 56) also received similar separate bomb threats. Following this, these aircraft underwent mandatory security checks after they were taken to an isolated bay.

There have been several similar instances of security threats recently, which turned out to be hoaxes. On September 6, Vistara's Mumbai-Frankfurt flight was diverted to Turkey's Erzurum airport after receiving a bomb threat, which later turned out to be a hoax, causing much inconvenience to passengers. Earlier this month, an email sent to Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar International Airport in Indore, MP, warned of a bomb threat, which turned out to be a hoax. The Vadodara Airport also received a similar threat via email. 

Two days ago, a Sharjah-bound Air India Express flight with 144 passengers landed after the aircraft faced a mid-air technical issue. Flight number IX613 had to hover over the Trichy airspace for more than an hour before it landed at the Tiruchirapalli airport. The DGCA initiated a probe to find out the cause of the problem after the orders of Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu.

Separately, in June this year, the national civil aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), imposed a financial penalty of ₹90 lakh on Air India for operating a flight with "unqualified" crew members. The incident involved pairing a non-trainer line captain with a first officer who was not released for line duty. Additionally, the director of operations and the director of training at Air India were fined ₹6 lakh and ₹3 lakh, respectively.