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What happens when a flight receives bomb threat? Know airlines' security protocol
Over the past week, dozens of flights got bomb threat calls, with all of them eventually turnout out to be hoaxes.
Over the past week, consecutive bomb threats received by dozens of flights rattled airlines and raised a major concern regarding aviation safety protocols in the country. While all the bomb threats turned out to be hoaxes, they severely disrupted the airlines operations and cause inconvenience to all passengers and crew members.
The barrage of bomb threats led to a swift response from airlines, which kicked in their anti-terror protocols and contacted the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) for further assistance and investigation regarding the security threats.
“We know that 99.99 per cent of the threats will turn out to be fake. But no one wants to take a chance with the remaining 0.01 per cent cases as well. That is why despite strict pre-departure security checks at Indian airports, we take bomb threats very seriously, knowing fully well that most will turn out to be fake,” an official of MoCA told The Indian Express.
What happens when a flight receives a bomb threat?
If a mid-air flight gets a bomb threat, an alert is sounded and a meeting of the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) at the airport is immediately convened. The next course of action is decided by the BTAC after the legitimacy of the threat is assessed.
If the threat is considered to be legitimate of “specific”, then the pilots are asked to make their next move after contacting the Air Traffic Control (ATC). Based on the location of the flight, the pilots are instructed to return to the departure airport, head to the decided destination or divert the flight to a nearby airport.
If the threat is received by a flight which has not taken off yet, then the aircraft is moved to a secluded bay for thorough security checks after consulting the BTAC.
Read more: 100 bomb threats this week: Flight regulator works to find solution
If the bomb threat is received by an international flight which is already out of the Indian airspace, then the Indian agencies have to coordinate with international ATC and security agencies, and the next course of action is decided. In such cases, the flight is usually diverted to the nearest airport.
Meanwhile, the Indian government and MoCA is actively working to resolve this issue of consecutive bomb threats.
While speaking to reporters on Sunday, Asangba Chuba Ao, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, said, “This (hoax bomb threats) is something that is being looked into very seriously by the aviation regulator. They are working towards finding solid solutions.”
