An Air India flight from New Delhi to Chicago was on Tuesday diverted to Canada after receiving a bomb threat which was posted online.
“Air India flight, AI 127, en route from New Delhi to Chicago, was forced to divert to Canada’s Iqaluit International Airport after receiving a bomb threat on Tuesday. The threat was sent via social media to the air carrier,” an airline official said.
“The aircraft and passengers are being re-screened as per the laid down security protocol. Air India has activated agencies at the airport to assist the passengers until such time that their journey can resume,” he added.
According to a statement from Air India Express, several operators have been targeted by threats from unverified social media accounts.
Earlier in the day, an Air India Express flight from Ayodhya to Bengaluru was also delayed after a bomb threat. The plane had 132 passengers on board and was coming from Jaipur. It was scheduled to go to Bengaluru after a brief halt in Ayodhya, officials said.
In its statement, Air India highlighted that it along with local airlines were “subject to a number of threats in recent days”.
“Though all have subsequently been found to be hoaxes, as a responsible airline operator all threats are taken seriously. The inconvenience to customers is sincerely regretted. Air India is extending all cooperation to authorities in identifying the perpetrators of such threats to ensure that they are held accountable for the disruption and inconvenience caused to passengers, and will consider legal action against those responsible to recover damages incurred by the airline,” it said.
Three international flights, two operated by IndiGo and one by Air India, had recently received fake security threats, leading to disruption in outbound international flight operations, as checks were initiated for all three planes involved.