Bomb threat: Full emergency at Kerala airport after Air India’s Thiruvananthapuram bound flight arrives from Mumbai

An Air India flight from Mumbai to Thiruvananthapuram was put in an isolation bay at Thiruvananthapuram airport after a bomb threat was received, according to sources cited by news agency PTI. 

The flight, AI657, with 135 passengers onboard, landed safely at Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram Airport. 

According to airport officials, all passengers were safely evacuated from the flight, and a full emergency was declared at the airport, reported ANI.

Airport sources informed PTI that the pilot communicated the bomb threat mid-flight as the aircraft approached the Thiruvananthapuram airport at 7.30 am. As the aircraft approached the Thiruvananthapuram airport, officials declared a full emergency at 7.36 am.

According to an ANI report, flight AI657 was parked in a remote bay for mandatory checks by security agencies after the passengers and crew disembarked safely by 8.44 am.

"A specific security alert was detected on Air India flight AI657 during a cruise from Mumbai to Thiruvananthapuram on August 22. Crew carried out all the laid-down security drills, keeping passenger safety as top priority. The flight has landed safely in Thiruvananthapuram and has been parked in a remote bay for the mandatory checks by security agencies. All passengers and crew disembarked safely. Air India accords top priority to the safety of its passengers and crew," ANI quoted an Air India spokesperson.

The Thiruvananthapuram International Airport authorities also issued a statement regarding the full emergency. The statement reads, “AI 657 (BOM-TRV) reported a bomb threat at 0730 hours on August 22, 2024. A full emergency was declared at TRV Airport at 0736 hours. The aircraft landed safely. It is now parked at the Isolation Bay, where the evacuation process has begun. There has been no impact on life. Airport operations are currently uninterrupted."

Bomb threat at Delhi hospitals and malls

This latest bomb scare comes two days after hospitals and malls in Delhi received bomb threat emails on Tuesday. Police beefed up security at over 100 hospitals and malls in the national capital.  

According to officials, a number of prominent government and private hospitals received bomb threats on August 20, including AIIMS, Safdarjung, Sir Ganga Ram, Apollo and Fortis.

Meanwhile, Chanakya Mall, Saket Select City Walk Mall, Ambience Mall, DLF Mall in south Delhi and others received similar bomb threat emails, which turned out to be hoaxes.