Delhi-Toronto flight stopped on runway after bomb mail

The Delhi Police said the threat was found to be a hoax later and legal action is being taken in the case

Panic gripped a Delhi-Toronto flight at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi after the airport authorities received a bomb threat on Tuesday night, officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday. Officials said 300 passengers and 16 crew members on board the Air Canada flight were evacuated minutes after the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) informed them about the email saying a bomb was planted in the plane.

Airport officials said all passengers were asked to evacuate the aircraft after the call. Taxis and buses were called to ferry them to the terminal building and the plane was sent to an isolated space for checking. (Representational image)

The Delhi Police said the threat was found to be a hoax later and legal action is being taken in the case. Airport officials said the mail was received at 11pm when the Air Canada flight was on the runway. The mail mentioned the flight number and threatened a bomb explosion.

Deputy commissioner of police (IGI) Usha Rangnani said the email was received at the DIAL office. “The flight was to depart for Toronto at 10.50pm. We stopped it and a thorough inspection was conducted following standard security protocol. But nothing suspicious was found,” said Rangnani.

Airport officials said all passengers were asked to evacuate the aircraft after the call. Taxis and buses were called to ferry them to the terminal building and the plane was sent to an isolated space for checking. The Delhi Police, Central Industrial Security Force and the bomb disposal squad were called in and nothing suspicious was found.

“The flight with 301 passengers and 16 crew members was evacuated as the mail came in. The plane was about to take off but was stopped. The flight was later cancelled,” said an airport official.

This is the fourth such incident in nearly a month. Senior police officers said such hoax incidents might lead to a “slower” response from bomb disposal squads as the teams have been reacting to hoax calls at hospitals, schools, colleges, airports and offices for a month. Police said they have asked senior authorities to take action on the hoax calls and emails and catch the offenders.

In the last three weeks, at least three other bomb threats were received at the IGI airport, all of which were later declared a hoax. On May 12, the IGI airport and eight hospitals in Delhi received emails warning of bombs on the premises.

Days later, a hoax threat was received, saying there was a bomb on an Air India set to depart for Vadodara on May 16. In that case, a crew member found the word “bomb” written on a tissue paper left inside the lavatory. On May 28, passengers on a Varanasi-bound IndiGo flight had to be evacuated minutes before take-off at the airport after a note was found in the flight’s lavatory with the words “bomb at 5:30” written on it. This, too, was declared a hoax later.