Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 19: As the hoax bomb threats threatening to throw the Indian airlines in total disarray, a hapless aviation safety body Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is learnt to have asked the flight operators to continue to follow the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for tackling such threats.
The BCAS officials met the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of different airlines in New Delhi on Saturday to take stock of the situation. Officials said at the meeting held at the civil aviation ministry’s office in Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, the CEOs were asked to follow the standard operating procedure (SOP) for tackling such threats, which have been causing inconvenience to passengers and losses to carriers. They were also asked to keep all stakeholders informed about the threats and the action being taken.
The spate of bomb scares targeting Indian airlines continued on Saturday and more than 30 flights of various Indian airlines, including Vistara, Air India and IndiGo, received bomb threats during the day taking the total number of hoax threats received by different flights to more than 70 in the last six days. Flights of Air India, IndiGo, Akasa Air, Vistara, SpiceJet, Star Air and Alliance Air have received the threats, the sources said. The hoax bomb threats are causing huge inconvenience to passengers, heavy losses to carriers and operational problems to airports.
The sources said more than 30 flights, including domestic and international ones, operated by domestic airlines have received bomb threats through social media since Saturday morning. In at least one of the flights, a note was found in the lavatory saying there was a bomb in the flight.
On Saturday Vistara said five of its flights on international routes received security threats through social media while IndiGo said at least four of its flights got security-related alerts. The five flights of Vistara are UK106 (Singapore to Mumbai), UK027 (Mumbai to Frankfurt), UK107 (Mumbai to Singapore), UK121 (Delhi to Bangkok) and UK131 (Mumbai to Colombo).
“Following the protocol, all relevant authorities were promptly alerted and all security procedures are being adhered to, as per the guidance from the authorities and security agencies,” an airline spokesperson said in a statement.
Besides, there was a security concern regarding Vistara flight UK624 from Udaipur to Mumbai, and after landing, the aircraft was taken to an isolation bay for mandatory checks. A note was found in the lavatory of the aircraft saying there is a bomb in the flight, a source in the know said.
IndiGo issued statements for at least four flights with respect to the threats. They are 6E17 (Mumbai to Istanbul), 6E11 (Delhi to Istanbul), 6E184 (Jodhpur to Delhi) and 6E108 (Hyderabad to Chandigarh). The airline said it is cognisant of a situation involving flights from Mumbai and Delhi to Istanbul. Regarding the Jodhpur to Delhi flight, the carrier said the plane landed in the national capital and customers have disembarked the aircraft.
About Hyderabad to Chandigarh flight, IndiGo said upon landing, the aircraft was isolated and all passengers were safely disembarked. Sources said the plane was being checked at Chandigarh airport thoroughly by the airport authorities at the isolation bay.
On Friday, three international flights of Vistara received bomb threats which turned out to be hoaxes and one of the flights was diverted to Frankfurt as a precautionary measure. In the past few days, more than 40 flights operated by the Indian carriers have received bomb threats which later turned out to be hoaxes.
In the investigation into the hoax threats so far, they have found that the IP (internet protocol) addresses from which some of the threats were issued this week were from London, Germany, Canada and the US. They did not, however, rule out the use of VPN (virtual private networks) by the people who made the threats to hide their actual locations.
The BCAS and aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the officials said, were also expected to issue fresh guidelines for airlines to deal with bomb threats. The recent spate of hoax calls and threats made through social media began on Monday and have continued every day since then, causing several flights to be diverted or delayed.
In a statement on Saturday, Akasa Air said, “Some of our flights operating on October 19, 2024, have received security alerts today. 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.”
Since Monday, at least 35 flights have been diverted or forced into emergency after receiving such threats, prompting the civil aviation ministry and authorities to implement stricter norms to deal with such situations.