New Delhi:

With flights operated by Indian airlines receiving an unprecedented 70 bomb threats in six days, officials from aviation safety body Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) met the chief executive officers (CEOs) of the airlines in New Delhi on Saturday.

Officials said that 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 the 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. 

Over 30 bomb threats were made against flights operated by different airlines on Saturday alone. Officials said that, in the investigation 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 VPNs (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, are also expected to issue fresh guidelines for airlines to deal with bomb threats. 

The recent flurry of hoax calls and threats made through social media began on Monday and the threats have continued every day since then, causing several flights to be diverted or delayed. 

On Saturday, Vistara said five of its flights on international routes received security threats through social media while at least four IndiGo flights received security-related alerts. The other airlines whose flights received threats were Air India, Air India Express, Akasa Air, SpiceJet, Star Air and Alliance Air.

In a statement, 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.” 

No Conspiracy?

A 17-year-old boy was taken into custody by the Mumbai Police on Wednesday for issuing threats to four flights on Monday, including three on international routes. Officials had said the teenager wanted to frame one of his friends, with whom he had a dispute over money. 

Over a dozen first information reports (FIRs) have been registered by the Mumbai Police and the Delhi Police in connection with the threats. 

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu had said on Thursday that initial investigations do not point to a conspiracy and that most of the calls had been “made by minors and pranksters”.

“We can’t comment on a conspiracy but whatever little we have known, it (the threats) is coming from minors or some pranksters. For very little, petty things, they are trying to issue threats on social media or through phone calls. So these are isolated incidents, there is no kind of conspiracy we can comment on,” he said.

Mr Naidu had said steps are being taken to ensure that a “strict barrier is created for people trying to do these kinds of pranks” and that the civil aviation ministry has held meetings with airlines and security agencies as well.

New Delhi:

With the number of flights that have received hoax bomb threats in four days crossing 25 on Thursday, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu has said initial investigations do not point to a conspiracy and that most of the calls had been “made by minors and pranksters”.

A 17-year-old boy was taken into custody by the Mumbai Police on Wednesday for issuing threats to four flights on Monday, including three on international routes. Officials had said the teenager wanted to frame one of his friends, with whom he had a dispute over money. 

Mr Naidu also said his department is considering changes in rules and legislation to ensure that such hoax bomb calls do not happen in the future. 

“We can’t comment on a conspiracy but whatever little we have known, it (the threats) is coming from minors or some pranksters. For very little, petty things, they are trying to issue threats on social media or through phone calls. So these are isolated incidents, there is no kind of conspiracy we can comment on,” the minister said on Thursday.

“From what we know, they are all individuals, most of them minors, who don’t understand the whole idea of what they are doing, and they are creating this kind of inconvenience,” he added.

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. 

“The police are pursuing the cases and trying to find out who is behind this. The Ministry of Home Affairs is also helping us a lot. Airlines and passengers are facing a lot of inconvenience, so we don’t want these kinds of situations to be repeated. We are ensuring action is being taken on these kinds of issues so that they don’t become a precedent for the future,” the minister asserted. 

The civil aviation minister said his department has held meetings with airlines and security agencies as well.

Series Of Calls

Police had said four bomb threats were issued on Monday and two flights were delayed, including Air India flight AI 119 from Mumbai to New York, which was diverted to New Delhi, and one had to be cancelled.

At least seven flights were impacted on Tuesday, including Air India flight AI 127 from Delhi to Chicago, which was diverted to the remote Iqaluit airport in Canada. IndiGo flight 6E 98 from Damman in Saudi Arabia to Lucknow made an emergency landing in Jaipur and threats were received by Air India Express, Akasa Air and Alliance Air as well. 

On Wednesday, a New Delhi-Bengaluru Akasa Air flight (QP 1335) returned to the capital and Indigo’s Mumbai-Delhi flight 6E 651 was diverted to Ahmedabad. Five other flights also received bomb threats, including two from SpiceJet.

The threats continued on Thursday and an Air India Mumbai-London flight was forced to declare an emergency an hour before landing. The Mumbai-London flight was one of at least five operated by Air India and two each by Vistara and IndiGo that received bomb threats, taking the total since Monday to over 28. 

Teenager’s Arrest

A 17-year-old school dropout from Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh was taken into custody by the Mumbai Police on Wednesday over Monday’s threats. Officials said the teenager allegedly created a handle on X in the name of a friend with whom he had a dispute and posted bomb threats from it.

The Mumbai Police has registered seven first information reports (FIRs) in connection with the threats and so has the Delhi Police.