Air India bomb threat: Panic as several flights receive hoax bomb threats over 48 hours leading to delays and diversions

On Tuesday (14 October), Singapore's Air Force sent two fighter jets to escort an Air India Express plane away from populated areas following a bomb threat. Hours before that, an Air India plane from Delhi to Chicago had to land at a Canadian airport as a precautionary measure.

The flight’s 211 crew and passengers disembarked at the Iqaluit airport some 300km (186 miles) from the Arctic circle, the Royal Canadian Mounted police said in a news release. According to local media in Iqaluit, an “unspecified bomb threat from a person in India to Air India” was relayed to the flight’s captain.

In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, the carrier said: “The aircraft and the passengers are being re-screened as per the laid down security protocols. Air India has activated agencies at the airport to assist the passengers until such time that their journey can resume.” 

IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa Air flights also received threats. On Monday (13 October), three international flights that took off from Mumbai were diverted or delayed after an X (formerly Twitter) handle posted threats. Police have detained a teenager in connection with this.

On Tuesday, seven flights, including the two Air India planes, were affected by the threats issued by another X handle which has now been suspended. Screenshots of some of the posts show the user had tagged the airline and local police and mentioned the flight number.

Air India said in a statement that it was co-operating with authorities to identify the people behind the threats and would consider legal action to recover damaged incurred. Every Indian airport has a Bomb Threat Assessment Committee which assesses the gravity of the threat and takes action accordingly. A threat can lead to the involvement of the bomb disposal squad, sniffer dogs, ambulances, police and doctors.