IndiGo’s flight 6E 108, operating from Hyderabad to Chandigarh received a security alert on October 19, the airline said on Saturday. Upon landing at its destination, the aircraft was isolated, and all customers were disembarked safely. In a statement, the carrier said, “Ensuring the safety and security of our customers and crew remains paramount in all facets of our operations. We worked closely with the relevant authorities, and standard operating procedures were followed. We sincerely regret any inconvenience this situation may have caused our customers and appreciate their understanding.
Earlier on October 16, IndiGo’s Riyadh-Mumbai flight was diverted to Muscat after a security alert and it landed safely, the airline said. The aircraft is grounded in Muscat. Several Indian flights have received threats over the past week, but all have turned out to be hoax. The carrier had said on October 16, “Flight 6E 74, operating from Riyadh to Mumbai, was redirected to Muscat due to a security-related alert. The aircraft has been isolated, and all passengers have been safely disembarked.”
On the same day, a Delhi-bound IndiGo aircraft from Mumbai was diverted to Ahmedabad following a bomb threat, which later turned out to be hoax, officials confirmed. The aircraft was isolated at Ahmedabad, and all passengers disembarked safely. After a thorough checking, nothing suspicious was found and the flight took-off for Delhi on Wednesday morning.
Soon after the flight took-off from Mumbai on Tuesday night, an unidentified person, through a tweet, claimed a bomb had been placed in the aircraft which was carrying nearly 200 passengers and crew, an official from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport here said.
After being alerted by the Mumbai ATC, the pilots decided to make an emergency landing at Ahmedabad airport, which was the closest airport when the flight was en-route to Delhi, an official said.
“After landing here during midnight, the aircraft, carrying nearly 200 passengers and crew, was thoroughly checked by the security agencies overnight. However, nothing suspicious was found. The flight took-off for Delhi at around 8 am today after getting a green signal from the security personnel,” the official said.
In a statement, IndiGo said flight 6E 651, operating from Mumbai to Delhi, was redirected to Ahmedabad due to a “security-related alert” on October 16.
Several flights have received similar hoax bomb threats in the last few days. An Akasa Air flight en-route to Bengaluru returned to New Delhi on Wednesday following a bomb threat. Three of Vistara’s international flights, one to London, Hong Kong and Paris received bomb threats, while the Paris and Hong Kong flights landed at their destinations safely, they flight to London was diverted to Frankfurt airport on October 19.
