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An unprecedented number of flights were disrupted by at least 70 bomb threats in India, sparking concern among passengers and calls for renewed action within the aviation sector.
Even though the threats turned out to be hoaxes and all flights landed safely, planes were still diverted to Canada and Germany, while fighter jets had to escort aircraft in Britain and Singapore.
Officials from India’s aviation safety body Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) met the chief executive officers of the airlines in New Delhi on Saturday to go over the operating procedure in case of a bomb threat. All CEOs were asked to follow the standard operating procedure when a threat comes in, as well as keep all stakeholders informed as to the actions being taken.
The BCAS, along with aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), are expected to issue new guidelines to tackle bomb threats.
“Indian skies are absolutely safe,” said BCAS director general Zulfiqar Hasan. “The current protocol (to deal with the situation) is robust and is being strictly followed. We reassure passengers that they should fly without any fear and in fact, fly even more.”
The threats, mostly issues on social media, began on Monday and continued steadily through the week, causing several flights being delayed or diverted through the day, leading to major losses to airline carriers.
Over a dozen threats were made on Friday, followed by over 30 made on Saturday alone.
Five flights from IndiGo and Akasa were sent threats, as well as three from Vistara and one from Air India Express.
Three international flights of Vistara Airlines received threats early on Saturday morning, with one flight from Delhi to London diverted to Frankfurt. The other two flights were heading to Paris and Hong Kong respectively after taking off from New Delhi.
On Saturday, a spokesperson from Akasa Air made a statement saying: “Some of our flights operating on 19 October 2024 have received security alerts. As per safety and security procedures, all passengers had to be deplaned as the local authorities followed necessary procedures. We request your understanding as our team on the ground did everything possible to reduce the inconvenience.”
Officials found that around 70 per cent of these threats have all come from the same source – an unverified and anonymous account on X that made threats to 46 domestic and international flights of Indian carriers in two days.
The account made 12 threats on Friday night and 34 on Saturday, reported Indian news daily The Indian Express. The account has now been suspended by X.
Investigators are finding it tough to track down those posting the threats because of the use of virtual private networks (VPNs). Government agencies are learnt to be in contact with social media platforms and VPN service providers to trace these threats.
“VPNs have been used to post the messages to avoid being traced. We’re analysing the pattern, and investigation agencies are coordinating to locate the sources of threats,” an aviation security official, who was part of the discussions, told the Hindustan Times.
The intention, the official claimed, was to “definitely disturb the aviation sector, create panic, and keep the agencies on their toes”.
Mumbai police arrested a boy, 17, on Wednesday for allegedly issuing four of the threats, including three on international routes, through social media accounts that he had created in the name of his friend. He was reportedly arrested from the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh.
“All others responsible for the disruptions will be identified and duly prosecuted,” India’s aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said on Thursday.
