No End To Hoax Bomb Threats: 36 Air India Flights Receive Fresh Threats

New Delhi: At Least 36 Air India flights on Tuesday received fresh bomb threat messages, as authorities are requesting cooperation from social media platforms to help fight the tide of hoax messages that have disrupted air travel nationwide.

Bomb Threat Grounds Indigo Flight at Visakhapatnam Airport; Security on High Alert

Twitter handle named as @adamlanza1111 made 12 threats to Indian airlines on October 18 and 34 on October 19. He issued threats to airlines such as Air India , Vistara, IndiGo, Akasa Air, Alliance Air, SpiceJet, Star Air & international carriers American Airlines, Jet Blue & Air New Zealand.

Visakhapatnam Airport Director Raja Reddy said, “Today around 5:38 pm, the Indigo Airlines station Manager informed that they had received a message from his Regional security head regarding a bomb threat tweet from an ID AdamLanza202, in which the sender mentioned various Indigo Airlines flights including 6E917 MAA - VTZ. Immediately flights shifted to Isolation bay and security checks are being conducted per SOP.”

Over 60 Flights Get Fresh Threats On Monday

On Monday, over 60 flights, including those operated by Vistara, Air India , and IndiGo, were facing renewed mid-air bomb threats. The situation has led to heightened scrutiny and precautionary measures among airlines and airport security personnel. The latest round of threats comes amid a troubling series of incidents that have affected the aviation sector for several weeks.

In the past 15 days, more than 410 domestic and international flights operated by Indian carriers have received hoax bomb threats. Most of the threats were issued through social media.

Delhi Police Arrests Man For Sending Scares At IGI Airport To Draw Attention

The Delhi police on Saturday traced and nabbed a 25-year-old man, who sent two bomb threats to Delhi’s IGI Airport via a social media account in order to draw attention and gain publicity. The accused was arrested from the Rajapuri area located in Delhi’s Uttam Nagar and confessed to the act saying that he did it after watching similar news reports on television.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI Airport), Usha Rangnani identified the accused as Shubham Upadhyay (25), who is an unemployed person and is only 12th pass.

During a press conference in Delhi, AAP MP Sanjay Singh said, “Airlines are receiving threats. People who travel by plane are now afraid. An Air India flight received a threat on August 22, 2024. On September 1, 2024, the IndiGo flight going from Jabalpur to Hyderabad received a threat. 

On September 4, another Air India flight going from Delhi to Vishakhapatnam received a threat. On September 6, a Vistara airline flight received a threat. On October 15, 2024, another Air India flight received a threat. On October 17, 2024, Air Akasa, Air India, Spice Jet, and IndiGo flights received threats. On October 21,

Air India, Vistara, Spice Jet, and IndiGo flights received threats. Similarly, on October 24, another Air India received the threat and on October 27, the threat was given to bomb 50 flights. What is happening in this country? Not only this, temples and schools are receiving threats as well.”