Over 10 flights receive bomb threats in 24 hours, 70 hoax calls this week

More than 10 flights received bomb threats in less than 24 hours, adding to a long list of hoax calls airlines have received this week. A London-bound Vistara flight from Delhi (UK17) was diverted to Frankfurt, Germany, after a bomb threat. A Jaipur-Dubai Air India Express flight (IX 196) was given a threat, which turned out to be fake. Meanwhile, Vistara, Akasa, and IndiGo flights got bomb threats today. 

Three international flights of Vistara Airlines received bomb threats early Saturday morning, all of which turned out to be hoaxes after thorough checks. The bomb threat to the Dubai-Jaipur Air India Express flight forced a delay in taking off the Jaipur-Dubai (IX 195) flight from the airport. The flight is on its way to its destination. Meanwhile, the Vistara flight which was diverted to Frankfurt, later took off for London.

Two Vistara flights that received threats were en route to Paris and Hong Kong from the national capital.  "Vistara flight UK17 operating from Delhi to London on October 18, 2024, received a security threat on social media. In line with the protocol, all relevant authorities were immediately informed and as a precautionary measure, the pilots decided to divert the flight to Frankfurt," the spokesperson said.

The IndiGo flights that received threats include 6E 17 operating from Mumbai to Istanbul, 6E 11 from Delhi to Istanbul, and 6E 184 from Jodhpur to Delhi. Akasa Air also reported that its flight QP 1366, scheduled to fly from Bengaluru to Mumbai on Friday, received a security alert shortly before departure. On Saturday, a spokesperson of the airline said, "Some of our flights operating on Saturday, have received security alerts". However, the spokesperson has not shared yet the exact number.

In a week, various airlines received around 70 hoax calls, all of which have turned out to be false alarms. The investigating agencies have found some common lines and words used in these fake threats, like "bombs", "blood will spread everywhere", "explosive devices", "this is not a joke" and "you will all die" and "bomb rakhwa dia hai" (Hindi for a bomb has been placed) among others.

A 17-year-old boy from Chhattisgarh was detained by Mumbai Police in connection with threats to three flights originating from Mumbai on October 14. Some of the IP addresses of the devices from which the threat was posted were traced to foreign locations, including London. Various police teams have contacted Virtual Private Network (VPN) service providers and social media platforms for information regarding the threat messages. VPNs hide IP addresses, making it difficult to track physical locations.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) suggested that several steps will be taken like putting hoax callers on the no-fly list for five years. The airlines suggest that the losses borne by them due to fake bomb threats should be recovered from the accused.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Thursday said initial investigations do not point to a conspiracy and that most of the calls had been "made by minors and pranksters". Mr Naidu said steps are being taken to ensure that a "strict barrier is created for people trying to do these kinds of pranks" and his department is pursuing changes in rules and legislation to achieve this.