Air India New York bound flight returns to Mumbai after bomb threat

The Boeing 777 aircraft with at least 320 people on board was flying over Azerbaijan when the flight had to head back to Mumbai

New Delhi: An Air India New York (JFK) bound flight from Mumbai had to return to Mumbai on Monday, eight hours after taking off, due to a bomb threat that was later declared to be a hoax.

The aircraft underwent mandatory checks by security agencies, before the threat was declared as a hoax. (Representational image)

The Boeing 777 aircraft with at least 320 people on board was flying over Azerbaijan when the flight had to head back to Mumbai.

“A potential security threat was detected mid-flight on AI119 operating Mumbai-New York (JFK) today, 10 March 2025. After following the necessary protocols, the flight air-returned to Mumbai, in the interest of the safety and security of all on board. The flight landed safely back in Mumbai at 1025 Hrs (local time),” an Air India spokesperson said on Monday.

As a standard operating procedure (SOP), the aircraft underwent mandatory checks by security agencies, before the threat was declared as a hoax.

Airline officials close to the matter said, “One of the operating crew noticed the threat written on a tissue in one of the washrooms of the airline. The episode was reported to the pilot in command after which a call was taken to fly the aircraft back to Mumbai,” the official said.

“.. all passengers have been offered hotel accommodation, meals, and other assistance until then. Our colleagues on the ground are making sure to minimise the inconvenience caused to our passengers by this disruption. As always, Air India accords the highest priority to the safety of passengers and crew,” the spokesperson added.

The Indian aviation has had a series of hoax threat incidents in the recent past.

A total of 728 hoax bomb threats were received by airline operators across India in 2024 and 13 individuals were arrested in that regard, Murlidhar Mohol, minister of state for civil aviation had said in Parliament last month. According to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the country’s aviation security regulator, IndiGo saw the maximum bomb hoax calls (216), followed by Air India (179), former airline Vistara (153), Akasa Air (72), SpiceJet (35), Alliance Air (26), Air India Express (19) and Star Air (5).

As per government data, 680 hoax calls were received in October last year. 1,143 hoax bomb threats were made to domestic airlines between August 2033 and November 13, 2024, of which 994 were received in 2024 itself.