Srinagar bound Vistara flight receives hoax bomb threat call

A Srinagar-bound Vistara aircraft carrying 178 passengers from New Delhi received a bomb threat on Friday prompting swift action from the security grid at Srinagar Airport.

The call later turned out to be a hoax.

Sources said Air Traffic Control (ATC) at the Srinagar Airport received a bomb threat on an Air Vistara flight no-UK-611 from New Delhi in the afternoon.

It prompted the security alert with security Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and security men swinging into action and laid cordon around the plane once it landed at the Srinagar airport.

“Immediately after the flight landed at the airport, it was directed towards an isolation bay and the passengers and the crew were evacuated. A thorough search of the plane was carried out, and bomb disposal squads and sniffer dogs were also deployed to check any suspicious items, they said. After an exhaustive search, no explosives were found on the plane,” sources said.

The flight operations were halted at the Srinagar airport for about an hour. After no explosive material was found the flight operations resumed at the airport.

The authorities have started investigating the source of the bomb threat call.