Mid-air scare! Air India's Delhi-bound flight from Toronto gets bomb threat

A Delhi-bound Air India flight from Toronto received a bomb threat on Thursday while it was mid-air, before landing safely in the national capital.

The Delhi Police received a message about the threat at around 11.30 AM when the flight was a little over four hours away from Delhi, reported PTI, quoting sources.

However, the flight landed safely at Delhi airport around 3.40 PM and was parked for the mandatory security checks by officials as per protocol.

The flight AI188, operated with a Boeing 777 aircraft, was assessed by the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) constituted at the Delhi airport. However, sources said that the threat was found ‘non-specific’.

Meanwhile, in a statement, the airline's spokesperson said that the on-board crew carried out all the laid-down security drills, keeping passenger safety and security as top priority.

All passengers and crew have disembarked safely, added the spokesperson.

The development comes amid a car blast in Delhi near the Red Fort area in which at least 13 people lost their lives and several others suffered injuries. The government is treating the blast as a 'terror incident'.

According to a PTI report, on Wednesday, IndiGo airline received a message that there is a bomb threat for five airports, including Delhi and Mumbai. The message claimed a bomb threat to airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram.

An Air India Express flight from Mumbai to Varanasi also received a bomb threat. The flight safely landed at the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport and the threat turned out to be a hoax.

According to the Gomti Zone police, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) in Kolkata informed the Varanasi ATC around 3:58 PM about a possible bomb threat to flight IX-1023 coming from Mumbai.

Following the alert, security agencies at the Varanasi airport were put on high alert before the flight with 182 passengers on board landed safely at 4:19 PM, officials said.

The CISF and airport security teams conducted an intensive search operation and frisking of passengers after the plane landed as part of standard protocol, they said.

“No suspicious object or activity was found during the inspection,” a senior police officer said.