New York flight returns after hoax 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: A New York-bound Air India flight from Mumbai had to return eight hours after taking off due to a bomb threat that was later declared to be a hoax.
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) on 10th March 2025. After following the necessary protocols, the flight 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, adding, “The flight has been rescheduled at 5am on Tuesday.”
“.. 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 said.
As a standard operating procedure (SOP), the aircraft underwent mandatory checks by security agencies, before the threat was declared a hoax.
“One of the operating crew noticed the threat written on a tissue in one of the washrooms of the airline. It was reported to the pilot in command after which a call was taken to fly the aircraft back to Mumbai,” an official aware of the development said.
The Indian aviation has had 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 the 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. 1143 hoax bomb threats were made to domestic airlines between August 2033 and November 13 2024 of which 994 were received in 2024 itself.
