A Mumbai-bound Vistara flight with 147 persons on board made an emergency landing in Mumbai early Thursday upon its arrival from Frankfurt, Germany, after a bomb threat was reported to the aircraft, a source said.
The Boeing 787 aircraft safely landed at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at 7:45 am.
The Vistara bomb threat incident marks the 19th bomb threat involving Indian flights in the past three days, following similar alerts for Air India, Akasa, and Indigo flights.
After receiving the security threat via social media, the aircraft was taken to an isolation bay, where all the passengers safely disembarked.
“Vistara flight UK 028…was subject to a security threat received on social media. As per protocol, all relevant authorities were immediately informed. The aircraft safely landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai and was taken to the isolation bay where all customers were disembarked. We are fully cooperating with the security agencies to complete the mandatory security checks,” a Vistara spokesperson said.
Indian flights have recently been facing bomb scares both on the international and domestic routes. The last bomb threat was on October 14, following which a London-bound Air India aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing. Hours before, two other Indigo flights operating on the Mumbai-Muscat and Mumbai-Jeddah sectors had also received bomb threats.
The protocol for bomb alerts on Indian flights involves a procedure where passengers are off-loaded from the aircraft along with cabin baggage, check-in baggage and cargo, and are all screened again. According to a BBC report, this delay can cost thousands of dollars in damages to airlines and security agencies, stated a BBC report.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu expressed deep concern over the alerts, labelling them as “mischievous” and “unlawful.”
He also convened a high-level meeting on October 14, comprising officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
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