October 19, 2024 - Hoax threat calls continue to plague the aviation sector. In a span of a few hours starting last night until this afternoon (October 19), at least 29 Indian flights have received such prank calls leading to major flight disruptions. Starting Monday, around 50 flights were sent such threats in 15 hours, including eight Air India group and Indigo flights. Continuous disruptions of flights have prompted the Civil Aviation Ministry to considering putting strict steps in place.

In a span of 24 hours,11 flights received bomb threats to both national and international carriers, leading to an unprecedented security scare in the country. A London-bound Vistara flight from Delhi (UK17) was diverted to Frankfurt, Germany, after a bomb threat. A Jaipur-Dubai Air India Express flight (IX 196) received a hoax call. Meanwhile, five Akasa Air flights and five IndiGo flights got bomb threats today.

Sources say that now foreign airlines are also receiving threat calls, including JetBlue and American Airlines.

Airline executives estimate that they have lost crores of rupees as a result of the recent wave of flight disruptions.

A Boeing 777 from Mumbai to New York’s JFK airport on October 14 was forced to divert to Delhi after a bomb threat shortly after take-off. There were 200 passengers aboard and nearly 130 tonnes of jet fuel. The airline had to dump more than 100 tonnes of fuel to land safely. This, according to reports, cost the airline Rs 1 crore ($120,000) in waste of fuel alone.

The analysis says that the entire expense of such an incident, other than fuel dumping, is anticipated to be more than Rs 3 crore ($360,000).

On October 15, another Air India Boeing 777 en route from Delhi to Chicago was diverted to the Canadian town of Iqaluit due to a bomb threat. There were more than 200 passengers on board. And the aircraft was grounded for almost four days before finally reaching Chicago. The airline had to charter a Canadian Air Force plane to fly the stranded passengers to their destination.

The cost of renting a Boeing 777 for a day can range from $17,000 to $20,000, says the report. This adds even more financial strain to the airline. It is anticipated that this incident would have cost more than Rs 15-20 crore ($1.8-2.4 million) in total.

Civil Aviation Ministry has sprung into action seeing the spate of these hoax calls. Minister K Rammohan Naidu said they were working on amending regulations and reviewing international rules to ensure strict action against the guilty. The measures may include placing individuals responsible for bomb threats on a no-fly list.

"We are taking things seriously. We will take action," Naidu said.

He has also said initial investigations point to pranks by minors and miscreants and not to any conspiracy.  

Source: Media Reports