For the second day in a row, a flight landed at Mumbai Airport due to a bomb threat. A Mumbai-Paris Vistara Aircraft (UK 024) received a bomb threat, and the aircraft promptly landed at Mumbai Airport under full security at 10.19 AM on Sunday. The flight had more than 300 individuals on board, including crew members. This is the third incident this week where bomb threats prompted flights to make emergency landings at Mumbai Airport.
The flight departed from Paris, and during the journey, a crew member discovered a handwritten bomb threat note on an airsickness bag. The crew promptly informed the pilot and a full emergency was declared. The flight landed at Mumbai Airport in an isolation area with full security precautions.
Vistara Airlines released a statement after the incident, stating, “A security concern has been noted by our staff while onboard the airline’s flight UK 024 operating from Paris to Mumbai on 2 June 2024. Following protocol, the airline immediately informed the relevant authorities. The flight has landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai. At Vistara, the safety and security of our customers, crew, and aircraft is paramount.”
“A police officer from Sahar police stated, ‘The letter only contained the word “bomb”, and it was found on an airsickness bag. With more than 300 passengers on board, it took time to disembark and conduct checks, and in the end, nothing was found. The case has yet to be registered at the police station.”
This is the third incident during the week where a bomb threat was received, and flights had to land in an emergency. On Saturday, a Chennai-Mumbai IndiGo flight with 172 people on board landed under “full emergency” conditions after receiving a bomb threat. Flight 6E5314 departed Chennai at 6.50 AM and was en route when the bomb threat was received. The crew informed the pilot, who immediately informed Mumbai Air Traffic Control and requested an emergency landing. Airport fire trucks and ambulances were ready as the plane landed safely at around 8.45 AM. The passengers deplaned using the stepladder.
Previously, on May 28, a similar threat was made against a flight from Delhi to Varanasi. In that incident, passengers were evacuated via emergency exits at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. Videos showed passengers and crew exiting the plane through slides, carrying their cabin baggage. This behaviour violated safety guidelines, which mandate that evacuations be completed within 90 seconds and that passengers should not take any baggage during an emergency. Due to the breach of safety protocols in the Delhi incident, IndiGo took disciplinary action by grounding two pilots and four cabin crew members.
