An Air India flight from Mumbai to London Heathrow has been targeted in a series of hoax bomb threats, marking the latest incident involving Indian carriers. Flight AI129, en route to London after a nine-and-a-half-hour journey from Mumbai, was reportedly descending for a normal landing at Heathrow when the situation took a sudden turn.
At 12:24 pm UK time, the Boeing 777 altered its course, flying north across East Anglia instead. RAF Typhoon jets were said to have been promptly dispatched to intercept and accompany the aircraft following a bomb threat. The pilot communicated to air traffic control about the suspected bomb on board, requesting permission for landing due to the threat.
A report from The Times of India revealed that AI129 was just one of five Air India flights that received hoax threat messages on the same day. Additionally, the airline’s sister company, AI Express, received six threats, while IndiGo and Vistara each received two. The severity of the situation was highlighted by a Delhi-Chicago flight being forced to divert to the remote airport of Iqaluit in the Canadian Arctic, with passengers later flown out in a Canadian air force transport plane.
Following a series of holding patterns over the Suffolk-Norfolk border and east London due to air traffic control congestion, the Boeing 777 landed safely at Heathrow approximately 90 minutes behind schedule. The aircraft, configured for 342 passengers and aged six years, was scheduled to depart for Mumbai at 2 pm. However, the delayed arrival means it is unlikely to depart for India before 3 pm.
The recent surge in hoax bomb threats against Indian carriers has raised concerns and disrupted air travel operations, underlining the need for heightened security measures and swift responses to such situations to ensure the safety of passengers and crew.