Bomb Threat on Air India Flight Sparks Emergency at Thiruvananthapuram Airport

The Thiruvananthapuram Airport was declared in a full emergency on Thursday after a bomb threat on board an Air India flight arriving from Mumbai.

The aircraft, arriving at around 8:00 AM, was immediately taken to an isolation bay, and by 8:44 AM, all 135 passengers were removed to safety. The pilot said the threat was reported at around 7:30 AM while this flight was approaching Thiruvananthapuram Airport.

Further details regarding from where the threat originated are not available because the reports have come in.

Upon receiving the communication, the airport declared a full emergency at 7:36 AM. Fortunately, there has been no impact on life, and airport operations continue normally.

Following the alert, which was detected on August 22 on flight AI657 en route from Mumbai to Thiruvananthapuram, if ANI sources are to be believed from Air India, the aircraft landed safely. After the alert, the landing was made safely, and the aircraft was parked in a remote bay for mandatory security checks. All passengers and crew disembarked without incident.

This comes at a time when hoax bomb threats in India have been in an increase. On June 17, authorities detained a 13-year-old boy for allegedly sending a false e-mail that claimed a bomb had been planted on a Dubai-bound flight from Delhi Airport. The email triggered an emergency at the Delhi airport, which was placed on high alert.

In another incident, on June 18, email threats were received by 41 airports, including Jaipur, Chennai, and Varanasi. Extensive anti-sabotage checks were made but all the threats thereafter proved to be hoaxes.

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The increased incidence of such hoax bomb threats has pain-stricken hospitals, where about 60 hospitals in Mumbai have received such emails. The messages were sent via Virtual Private Networks and targeted several private, public and municipal hospitals.

These hoaxes disrupt flight schedules and require detailed inspections of passengers, luggage, aircraft. BCAS has proposed a five-year flying ban for those found guilty of these acts.