Delhi-bound Air India flight gets bomb threat written on tissue paper, declared a hoax

“A call was received at around 5 am from PCR Command Room stating that a caller has telephonically informed that in flight 2954… a crew member has found a tissue paper in the cabin, on which it was written – ‘Bomb in flight Air India 2948, Air India 171’,” said an officer.

However, checks conducted by the Delhi Fire Services and the Central Industrial Security Force revealed that the threat was a hoax.

“A non-specific security alert was detected on one of our aircraft. Standard security procedures were duly carried out, and the aircraft has been cleared for the next flight. Air India accords top priority to the safety and security of its passengers and crew,” said an Air India spokesperson.

Last Saturday, an Air India flight from Birmingham to Delhi had to be diverted to Riyadh after it also received a hoax bomb threat.

This is not the first time that airline crew members have found bomb threats scrawled on paper inside a flight. On October 9 last year, a note was found in the washroom of a Delhi-bound Vistara flight from London. The note claimed that there was a bomb on the flight. While the passengers were evacuated, checks revealed the threat to be a hoax.

Last May, a crumpled piece of paper was found in an IndiGo flight heading towards Varanasi from Delhi, claiming there was a bomb on board. All 176 passengers had to be evacuated, and the flight was frisked for suspicious objects before it was also declared a hoax threat.