Two more Indian passenger aircraft were diverted on Wednesday (Oct 16), the latest in a string of hoax bomb threats made to airline companies involving the country – bringing the total to 12 in three days.
Akasa Air flight, which was flying from India’s capital New Delhi to the southern city of Bengaluru, “received a security alert” and the flight was ordered to return as a “precaution”.
Akasa Air said emergency response teams were monitoring the situation and that the captain had followed “all required emergency procedures for a safe landing in Delhi”.
Another flight, domestic carrier IndiGo flying from Mumbai to New Delhi, was diverted to Ahmedabad.
Zulfiquar Hasan, director-general of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), told the Times of India newspaper that “Indian skies are absolutely safe” and said police were working to identify the culprits.
“We are confident of tracing all those behind these threat messages and very strict action under law will be taken,” Hasan told the newspaper.