Mumbai: The city airport police have registered four cases of hoax bomb threat notes found in flights since June last year, with perpetrators taking advantage of the absence of onboard surveillance systems. In the latest incident, on Monday, a Jaipur-Mumbai IndiGo aircraft made an emergency landing at the city airport after a cabin crew member found a bomb threat note in the galley area.
On Tuesday, Airport police registered an FIR against an unknown individual for creating panic onboard the Jaipur-Mumbai flight.
Pointing out the rise in threatening messages found in aircraft lavatories among other locations, a senior police officer said the miscreants exploit the lack of cameras inside the aircraft to create disturbances. “They seem to enjoy spreading panic amid the crew and co-passengers. These flyers could also be someone who may have a grudge against the airline over some past incident,” added the officer.
On Monday, the IndiGo flight departed Jaipur at 7.05pm and was scheduled to arrive in Mumbai at 8.15pm. About 20 minutes before its scheduled landing, cabin crew member Bhumika Joshi (19) found the note in the galley area stating, ‘Open it… Surprise, Bomb is waiting for you. Guys, not a joke’. In her statement to police, Joshi said: “I was serving food packets when I found the note on the aircraft safety galley tabletop…I immediately informed the senior crew L M Amral…”
Police said the crew alerted the captain, resulting in security inspections prior to landing. Enhanced security protocols were implemented at the city airport and the aircraft, carrying 225 passengers, landed at 8.50pm. Extensive searches proved the threat to be false.
Earlier, on March 10, a New York-bound Air India flight returned to Mumbai after a bomb threat scribbled on toilet paper was found in its washroom. In June 2024, similar handwritten notes were found in two Mumbai-bound Vistara flights — one from Thiruvananthapuram and the other from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. All three threats were found to be false after comprehensive searches.
Police are yet to make an arrest in these four cases.
Mumbai: The city airport police have registered four cases of hoax bomb threat notes found in flights since June last year, with perpetrators taking advantage of the absence of onboard surveillance systems. In the latest incident, on Monday, a Jaipur-Mumbai IndiGo aircraft made an emergency landing at the city airport after a cabin crew member found a bomb threat note in the galley area.
On Tuesday, Airport police registered an FIR against an unknown individual for creating panic onboard the Jaipur-Mumbai flight.
Pointing out the rise in threatening messages found in aircraft lavatories among other locations, a senior police officer said the miscreants exploit the lack of cameras inside the aircraft to create disturbances. “They seem to enjoy spreading panic amid the crew and co-passengers. These flyers could also be someone who may have a grudge against the airline over some past incident,” added the officer.
On Monday, the IndiGo flight departed Jaipur at 7.05pm and was scheduled to arrive in Mumbai at 8.15pm. About 20 minutes before its scheduled landing, cabin crew member Bhumika Joshi (19) found the note in the galley area stating, ‘Open it… Surprise, Bomb is waiting for you. Guys, not a joke’. In her statement to police, Joshi said: “I was serving food packets when I found the note on the aircraft safety galley tabletop…I immediately informed the senior crew L M Amral…”
Police said the crew alerted the captain, resulting in security inspections prior to landing. Enhanced security protocols were implemented at the city airport and the aircraft, carrying 225 passengers, landed at 8.50pm. Extensive searches proved the threat to be false.
Earlier, on March 10, a New York-bound Air India flight returned to Mumbai after a bomb threat scribbled on toilet paper was found in its washroom. In June 2024, similar handwritten notes were found in two Mumbai-bound Vistara flights — one from Thiruvananthapuram and the other from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. All three threats were found to be false after comprehensive searches.
Police are yet to make an arrest in these four cases.