What’s behind bomb threats that have disrupted 100 flights in India?

Hoax bomb threats have disrupted nearly 100 flights in India over the past week and rattled the country’s aviation sector.

The wave of threats, issued mostly via X, has alarmed passengers and sent the aviation authorities scrambling to mount a response.

At least 30 of the threats were received on Saturday alone and another dozen the next day. All turned out to be hoaxes.

A Vistara flight bound for Frankfurt was compelled to return to Delhi on Sunday after Afghanistan reportedly denied it permission to fly through due to a bomb threat.

Flight UK25, carrying over 240 passengers, had left Delhi at 1.10pm local time. Since the threat was deemed “non-specific”, the initial plan was for it to continue the journey to Germany, the news agency PTI reported, citing unnamed sources.

But the Afghan authorities refused to allow the Boeing 787 to enter their airspace, forcing it to return to Delhi after circling briefly over Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to flight tracking data from Flightradar24. The plane landed safely at about 4.20pm local time.

UK25 typically flies over Pakistan and Afghanistan on the way to Frankfurt.

“Flight UK25 from Delhi to Frankfurt is returning back to Delhi and is expected to arrive in Delhi at 1620 hours,” the airline confirmed on X.

Another three Vistara Airlines flights had received similar threats on Saturday morning. While a flight from Delhi to London was diverted to Frankfurt in view of the threat, the other flights landed safely at their destinations in Paris and Hong Kong.

A few days earlier, a Vistara flight arriving in Mumbai from Frankfurt with 147 passengers and crew had to make an emergency landing and undergo security checks in an isolation bay after a bomb scare.

An Air India flight from Mumbai to New York had to be rerouted to Delhi, evacuated, and searched for explosives. The plane was forced to dump nearly 100 tonnes of jet fuel to ensure a safe landing, costing the airline around Rs10mn (£91,210), the Times of India reported. The total cost of the diversion, including accommodation for passengers, grounding of the aircraft and crew replacements, was expected to exceed Rs 30 mn (£273,626).

A similar threat had forced an Air India Boeing 777 flight to Chicago to make an emergency landing in Canada, stranding over 200 passengers for over 18 hours at a remote airport.

Indian police and security agencies have launched investigations into the hoax threats, but made little headway.

Delhi police have contacted X for information about accounts posting the hoax threats. They suspect the perpetrators are using VPN or dark web to post threatening messages.

Most of the threats issued on Sunday came from anonymous and unverified X account @schizophreniqqq, the Indian Express reported, and those on Friday and Saturday from another anonymous X account called @adamlanza11. The accounts have since been suspended.

“To get the IP addresses, we have written to the social media platform,” a senior police officer told PTI.

Police have so far only arrested a minor boy accused of issuing three hoax threats from a fake X handle, supposedly in an attempt to implicate his friend.

Investigators have been trying to establish a “pattern” in the series of threats to various airlines, the Hindustan Times reported, citing unnamed sources.

“There is a pattern behind the messages. A threat is given using social media or through a phone call, and then suddenly similar threats start to appear within a short span of time,” an aviation security official, who was part of the discussions, told the paper.

“VPNs have been used to post the messages to avoid being traced. We’re analysing the pattern, and investigation agencies are coordinating to locate the sources of threats.”

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The intention, the official claimed, was to “definitely disturb the aviation sector, create panic, and keep the agencies on their toes”.

India’s civil aviation minister assured that urgent steps were being taken to address the situation. “Such activities are a matter of grave concern,” K Ram Mohan Naidu said on Wednesday. “We will take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of passengers and the smooth functioning of the aviation sector.”

All those “responsible for the disruptions will be identified and duly prosecuted”, the minister said.

Officials found that around 70 per cent of these threats have all come from the same source – an unverified and anonymous account on X that made threats to 46 domestic and international flights of Indian carriers in two days.

The account made 12 threats on Friday night and 34 on Saturday, reported Indian news daily The Indian Express. The account has now been suspended by X.

Around 100 bomb threats have been sent since they began last Monday.

A Vistara flight and an Air India Express flight received bomb threats on Tuesday night, and four flights of IndiGo, two of SpiceJet and one of Akasa Air were targeted on Wednesday.

IndiGo flight 6E 74 from Riyadh to Mumbai was diverted to Muscat, Oman, while 6E 515 from Chennai to Lucknow needed to be isolated upon landing. Another IndiGo flight from Delhi to Mumbai was redirected to Ahmedabad on Tuesday night.

An Akasa Air flight taking 180 people to Bengaluru returned to Delhi after a similar scare on Wednesday afternoon.

An Air India flight from Delhi to Chicago was diverted to the remote Iqaluit airport in Canada after the airline received a threat on Tuesday.

The 211 passengers and crew made their way to Chicago on Wednesday after the Canadian Air Force flew them out, having spent 18 hours stranded at the airport.

Five flights from IndiGo and Akasa were sent threats, as well as three from Vistara and one from Air India Express.

On Saturday, a spokesperson from Akasa Air made a statement saying: “Some of our flights operating on 19 October 2024 have received security alerts. As per safety and security procedures, all passengers had to be deplaned as the local authorities followed necessary procedures. We request your understanding as our team on the ground did everything possible to reduce the inconvenience.”

“Airport police responded to eight incidents involving reported bomb threats this month,” Usha Rangnani, the police officer incharge of security at the Delhi airport, said. “After thorough verifications and inspection, all threats were confirmed to be hoaxes.”

She said social media accounts of people “responsible for these false threats have been suspended”.

“Legal action has been initiated against those responsible for these false alarms to ensure strict measures against misuse and to maintain the safety and security of passengers and airport operations,” she was quoted as saying by local media.

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The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transportation summoned Vumlunmang Vualnam, India’s top civil aviation bureaucrat, who informed the lawmakers that efforts to identify suspects were underway.

The Delhi police had registered eight complaints against unknown individuals in relation to the recent spate of hoax threats targeting multiple international and domestic flights, he said.

The Mumbai police arrested a boy, 17, for allegedly issuing three of the threats through social media accounts that he had created in the name of his friend. He was reportedly arrested from the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh.

Mr Naidu, meanwhile, met with top aviation and security officials on 14 October. “I am monitoring the situation regularly and our law enforcement agencies are pursuing all cases actively,” he said. “Such mischievous and unlawful actions are a matter of grave concern and I strongly condemn any attempt to compromise the safety, security and operational integrity of our aviation sector.”

The federal government has decided to put more air marshals on flights, the Hindustan Times reported.

“Currently, a total of 35 air marshals are deployed in flights across certain sensitive sectors. The number of such marshals will be increased to 100,” an unnamed official told the paper.

Mr Naidu said his ministry was exploring harsher penalties for making hoax threats to airlines, including adding the offenders to no-fly lists.

India’s aviation laws currently do not have specific rules to tackle bomb threats that come from external sources such as social media, Mr Naidu said.

The ministry has transferred the directorate general of civil aviation Vikram Dev, the New Indian Express reported.

On Saturday, officials of the aviation safety body Bureau of Civil Aviation Security met chief executive officers of the airlines in New Delhi to go over the operating procedure in case of a bomb threat. The CEOs were asked to follow the standard operating procedure whenever a threat came in and keep all stakeholders informed as to the actions being taken.

“Indian skies are absolutely safe,” the bureau’s director general Zulfiqar Hasan said. “The current protocol is robust and is being strictly followed. We reassure passengers that they should fly without any fear and in fact, fly even more.”