An Amsterdam – Hyderabad KLM Airlines flight at Hyderabad airport received a bomb threat email on Monday at the midnight. The flight landed at the airport at around 1 am, officials of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad said. The incident comes days after a similar threat was sent to three flights at the Hyderabad airport. The threat email was sent for these flights:
6E 7178 (Kannur to Hyderabad): Landed safely at 10:50 pm on 7th December.
LH 752 (Frankfurt to Hyderabad): Landed safely at 2:00 am on 8th December.
BA 277 (Heathrow to Hyderabad): Landed safely at 5:30 am on 8th December.
A week prior to this, the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport went on high alert after four threat emails were sent within just 12 hours. Three of the emails targeted flights bound to Hyderabad. While those flights were able to land safely after full security checks, one aircraft had to turn back to its departure airport.
According to officials, the emails were sent anonymously through VPNs, using mailing services other than Gmail. CISF personnel said the bomb alerts have increased pressure at the airport, which is already dealing with overcrowding and operational disruptions due to ongoing IndiGo flight cancellation. “Along with managing passenger concerns, mandatory bomb-checking protocols are keeping all security units on their toes,” one CISF officer told The Hindu on Saturday.
Air India Delhi-Mumbai plane makes emergency landing
On Monday, an Air India‘s Delhi-Mumbai Boeing 777 plane returns to the national capital due to right engine issue, reported PTI, citing sources. The plane with 335 passengers onboard was airborne for nearly an hour before returning to Delhi. The aircraft made an emergency landing, sources told the news agency.
“The crew operating flight AI887 from Delhi to Mumbai on 22 December decided to return to Delhi shortly after take-off due to a technical issue as per standard operating procedure,” Air India said in a statement.
The aircraft landed safely at Delhi and the passengers and crew have disembarked, the airline said and regretted the inconvenience caused due to this unforeseen situation.