Thiruvananthapuram Airport declares emergency after bomb threat on flight

There were 135 passengers onboard the Air India flight when the pilot contacted Air Traffic Control about the bomb threat

This story has been updated.

A full emergency was declared at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport on Thursday morning after a bomb threat was reported on an Air India flight from Mumbai, according to news agency PTI.

The full emergency at the airport was declared at 7:36 am, shortly after the pilot communicated the threat to the  Air Traffic Control.

The flight, Air India 657, landed at Thiruvananthapuram around 8 am and was immediately moved to an isolation bay. The Air India flight departed from Mumbai airport at 5:45 am this morning and was scheduled to land in Thiruvanathapuram by 8.10 am. Due to the bomb threat alert, the flight landed early.

Air India issued a statement confirming the incident, stating that a specific security alert was detected during the flight from Mumbai to Thiruvananthapuram. "The crew carried out all the laid down security drills keeping passenger safety as top priority," an airline spokesperson said, adding that all passengers and crew disembarked safely.

Passengers were safely evacuated from the aircraft by 8:44 am, while a bomb detection squad and other security agencies began inspecting the plane. In the meantime, the passengers are waiting for their luggage to be delivered as the investigation continues.

There were 135 passengers onboard at the time. Details regarding the origin of the threat and further information are still awaited.

Despite the situation, airport operations have continued without interruption, and no injuries or impact on life have been reported.

Authorities are treating the situation with utmost seriousness, and security measures have been heightened at the airport. The incident is under investigation, and updates are expected as more information becomes available.

Growing number of bomb threats in India

There have been an increasing number of bomb threats in various parts of the country. Recently, several malls in Delhi NCR received bomb threats via emails leading to mass evacuations and search operations. Earlier several schools in the national capital also received bomb threats via emails sent from dummy mails. It must be noted, however, that some of these threats were discovered to be hoaxes.

This is a developing story, and further details will be provided as the situation unfolds.