Indian airlines are 'in trouble' with bomb threats

Air India is among the airlines affected by bomb threats.

All flights affected by the bomb threat landed safely. However, some Indian Airlines planes were diverted to Canada and Germany, while fighter jets were tasked with tracking affected planes in the airspace of the UK and Singapore, according to AFP.

The Indian government and civil aviation authorities have warned that strict measures will be taken to prevent such threatening behaviour from recurring on flights.

While New Delhi's civil aviation authority has not released figures on threatened flights, The Times of India and News18 have recorded a total of more than 70 incidents on domestic and international flights since October 13.

On October 19 alone, at least 30 bomb threats occurred.

At least one person has been arrested in India after spreading fake news, but such irresponsible acts have not stopped.

"Authorities will hunt down and bring to justice all those responsible for disrupting flights," AFP quoted Indian Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu as saying after the arrests on October 16.

The Indian Express reported that an anonymous account on social network X (formerly known as Twitter) was suspended after posting a fake news that at least 40 flights were threatened with bombs on October 18 and 19. These included Indian and international airlines, including the US and New Zealand.

"Bomb is on board… No one can survive. Evacuate the plane quickly," according to a status posted on that account.

One of the affected flights was operated by Air India from Mumbai (India) to New York (New York state, USA), forcing US security to conduct a full search of the aircraft that landed on October 19.

An Air India flight from New Delhi (India) to Chicago (Illinois, USA) was forced to divert and make an emergency landing in the Canadian city of Iqaluit on October 15.

During this process, the Royal Canadian Air Force had to scramble fighter jets to escort the plane until it landed safely.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hang-khong-an-do-dang-gap-han-bi-doa-danh-bom-185241020173317578.htm