3 international flights from Mumbai get bomb threats; nothing suspicious found

PTI, Oct 14, 2024, 6:36 PM IST

Mumbai: Security agencies went into a tizzy after three international flights originating from Mumbai received bomb threats on Monday with one of them, a New York-bound Air India aircraft, getting diverted to New Delhi as travel plans of some 500 passengers went for a toss.

However, nothing suspicious was found on any of the planes after a thorough check by security agencies, police officials said.

Apart from the Air India flight, two IndiGo aircraft — one bound to Muscat (Oman) and another to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) — also received bomb threats, as per officials.

The IndiGo flights received the threats before they took off and the planes were moved to isolation bays for security checks on Monday morning, the airline said without elaborating.

The Air India aircraft had 239 passengers and 19 crew members on board, while the two IndiGo flights had around 260 passengers, according to sources.

While the IndiGo’s Muscat flight departed for its destination after a delay of nearly 7 hours at around 9.15 am after receiving security clearance, the Jeddah-bound aircraft took off at 13.14 pm, 11 hours behind its scheduled departure time of 2.05 am, as per the live flight tracking website Flightradar.com.

However, the Air India flight has been rescheduled and will now depart for New York from Delhi on Tuesday morning, as per the airline.

An Air India statement said, “Flight AI119 operating Mumbai to JFK (New York) on October 14 received a specific security alert and on instructions of the government’s security regulatory committee it was diverted to Delhi.” “The aircraft was thoroughly checked at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, and all standard safety protocols were diligently followed to ensure the safety of the passengers and the crew on board,” a senior Delhi police officer said, adding nothing suspicious was found during checking.

The bomb threat was received through a post on the microblogging platform X and the handle is being verified, the officer said.

The IndiGo’s Mumbai-Muscat and Mumbai-Jeddah flights also received bomb threats, a Mumbai police official confirmed, but said “nothing was found (after inspection of the aircraft and passengers and baggage scanning).” “IndiGo flight 6E 1275 operating from Mumbai to Muscat had received a bomb threat. As per protocol, the aircraft was taken to an isolated bay, and following the standard operating procedure, mandatory security checks were promptly initiated,” the Gurugram-headquartered budget airline said in a statement.

On the Mumbai-Jeddah flight, it said, “The flight had received a bomb threat. As per protocol, the aircraft was taken to an isolated bay, and following the standard operating procedures, mandatory security checks were promptly initiated.”