Air Asia flight makes emergency landing in Kolkata after woman says ‘bombs strapped to body’

A Mumbai-bound flight from Kolkata had to return and make an emergency landing at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) airport after a female passenger threatened to blow up the aircraft on Saturday night.

The 25-year-old woman, identified as Mohini Mondol, was later arrested. A resident of Salt Lake, Mondol told the police that she works in a press owned by her father.

Police said the woman on board an Air Asia flight I5316 gave a note to one of the cabin crew after 40 minutes of flying. She asked the crew to deliver the note to the pilot. The note said that there were bombs strapped to her body and she would detonate them any moment.

The pilot informed the air traffic controller (ATC) that it was returning to Kolkata due to the bomb threat. A full emergency was declared by the ATC at 11 pm. After the plane landed at the NSCBI airport, it was taken to the isolation bay at 11:46 pm.

Officials said they followed all protocol to handle such threats. The passenger was taken into custody by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and later handed over to the local police. A thorough search of the plane was carried out and later the aviation regulator cleared the aircraft, officials said.

“There was no bomb strapped to her body. Further investigation is on. She is yet to divulge why she created the bomb scare, why was she going to Mumbai and why she wanted the flight to return to Kolkata,” said a senior officer of the NSCBI Airport police station in Salt Lake.