Air India Flight Makes Emergency Landing In Thailand After Bomb Threat (representational image)

Phuket, Thailand: An Air India flight from Thailand’s Phuket to New Delhi received a bomb threat on Friday, reported Reuters citing Phuket’s airport officials. The plane, carrying 156 passengers, reportedly made an emergency landing on the island. 

Flight AI 379 had landed, and is undergoing mandatory security checks at Phuket International Airport, an official told Reuters. According to an Airports of Thailand official, passengers were being escorted from the plane, in line with emergency plans.

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The aircraft departed Phuket Airport for New Delhi at 9:30 AM (0230 GMT) on Friday, but after circling over the Andaman Sea, it returned and landed back on the island, according to flight tracking service Flightradar24.

The Transport Ministry stated that Air India flight AI 379 landed safely at Phuket International Airport, where safety protocols are now being actively followed.

Authorities have not found any bomb inside the concerned Air India flight after the preliminary search, reported Hindustan Times.

The airport authorities are reportedly questioning the passenger who found the bomb threat note on the aircraft.

As of yet, neither AOT nor Air India has made any statement regarding the incident.

Last year, Indian airlines and airports received nearly 1,000 hoax bomb threats in the first ten months alone, around ten times more than 2023.

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The news comes barely a day after India witnessed one of the worst aviation tragedies in recent history when an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crashed seconds after takeoff in Ahmedabad, killing 241 passengers: 169 Indian nationals, 53 British nationals, 7 Portuguese nationals and 1 Canadian national. Only one survivor, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, miraculously survived the crash and is currently under treatment.

At least five people, four undergraduate students and one postgraduate resident, were reported to have been killed when the Air India flight crashed into the BJ Medical College hostel building near Civil Hospital. Several others have sustained injuries. The official number remains unclear as of now.