An Air India flight travelling from New Delhi to Chicago was forced to divert to Iqaluit Airport in Canada on October 15 due to an online hoax bomb threat. Over the past two days, ten flights have encountered similar hoax threats, resulting in their grounding.
These included flights such as the Air India Delhi-Chicago route, IndiGo’s Dammam-Lucknow service, Air India Express from Ayodhya to Bengaluru, SpiceJet flight SG116 from Darbhanga to Mumbai, Akasa Air flight QP 1373 from Bagdogra to Bengaluru, Alliance Air’s 9I 650 from Amritsar to Dehradun to Delhi, and Air India Express flight IX 684 from Madurai to Singapore. Earlier on October 14, two IndiGo flights and one Air India flight received similar threats.
Air India confirmed the diversion of flight AI127, saying, “Flight AI127, which was traveling from Delhi to Chicago on October 15, 2024, faced an online security threat. As a precaution, it landed at Iqaluit Airport in Canada. The plane and passengers are being checked again according to security procedures.” According to FlightRadar24, Air India flight AI127 took off from New Delhi at 3:00 AM (IST) and was originally scheduled to arrive in Chicago by 7:00 AM (local time).
The fake bomb threats came from an unverified X account, and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is looking into it. According to airline sources, these threats are causing financial issues for the airlines, but all safety procedures are being strictly followed to protect passengers.
On October 14, three international flights, two operated by IndiGo and one by Air India, were targeted with fake security threats, causing disruptions in outbound international flights as checks were carried out on all three aircraft. There were a total of 258 passengers on the two IndiGo flights.
