Air India plane forced into emergency landing following bomb threat
An Air India Express flight made an emergency landing after receiving a bomb threat mid-air.
The aircraft, which had 176 passengers and crew on board for a scheduled two-hour journey, was evacuated on Wednesday, November 12, following the alert.
The flight was travelling from Mumbai to Varanasi when the threat forced the crew to carry out an immediate landing.
The plane touched down safely at Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi, where emergency procedures were swiftly activated.
All 176 occupants were safely evacuated with no injuries reported, The Independent said.
Bomb disposal experts then carried out comprehensive security inspections of the aircraft.
No suspicious items were found during the search.
The plane is still in the isolation bay while it awaits security checks before it can return to service.
The United News Of India reported that the threat had turned out to be a hoax.
An Air India Express spokesman said in a statement: ‘One of our flights to Varanasi received a security threat.
‘In line with protocol, the Government-appointed Bomb Threat Assessment Committee was immediately alerted, and all necessary security procedures promptly initiated.
The flight landed safely and all guests have been disembarked.
The aircraft will be released for operations once all mandated security checks are completed.’
