What Government Said About Bomb Threats To Flights? (image:Pixabay)
New Delhi: There are established contingency plans in place on bomb threat, anti-hijacking and counter terrorism, the Civil Aviation Ministry stated in the Parliament. Even though no actual bombs were found, hoax bomb threats significantly affected the airline operations in the country this year. In light of this, Congress parliamentarians Dr Mohammed Jawed and Anto Antony inquired the government about bomb threats to flights.
The primary sources of threat messages in recent bomb threats to various flights were social media (‘X’), emails, phone calls and oral, Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu said. “In order to deal with various security contingencies and to ensure the
safety of passengers & continuity of flight operations, there are established contingency plans on Bomb Threat, Anti-Hijacking and Counter Terrorism,” Minister added.
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Besides, India has bilateral agreements/MoUs with some countries in matters to address bomb threats, especially to strengthen intelligence-sharing mechanisms concerning the areas – Cooperation in Civil Aviation Security, Deployment of In-Flight Security Officers and Sharing of Sensitive Information.
Minister also detailed about the regulatory measures or monitoring systems in place to detect and avert future bomb threats, especially those circulated through social media and other digital platforms. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), aviation security regulator in the country, has issued guidelines for objective assessment of threat and the indicative factor have helped Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) in drawing conclusions. In addition, virtual assembly of BTAC through pre-generated video link has been placed and it has accelerated Committee’s response time.
Furthermore, “advisories for compulsory 10% of secondary ladder point check-in for all flights, strict monitoring of non-scheduled flight
operations, enhanced security measures and surveillance at cargo terminals were issued,” Minister replied.
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A detailed advisory on the responsibilities of social media intermediaries and consequential action, in case of failure, under various provision of IT Act were also issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), the government has said.
According to Minister of State for Civil Aviation Muralidhar Mohol, a total of 1,143 hoax bomb threats were received between August 2022 and November 13, 2024. Among these, 27 threats were reported during the period from August to December 2022, and the number increased to 122 last year. This year, as of November 13, the hoax bomb threat count reached 994.
