Full emergency at Thiruvananthapuram airport over bomb threat on AI flight

According to airport sources, the flight landed at around 8 am and was moved to an isolation bay

Thiruvananthapuram: A full emergency was declared at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport on Thursday following a bomb threat on an Air India flight from Mumbai, airport sources said.

The aircraft is currently being inspected by security agencies, including a bomb detection squad, they said, adding the passengers who travelled on the flight are presently waiting for their luggage to be delivered.

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Meanwhile, Air India, in a statement, said that a specific security alert was detected on flight AI 657 during cruise from Mumbai to Thiruvananthapuram and “the crew carried out all the laid down security drills keeping passenger safety as top priority. All passengers and crew disembarked safely. Air India accords top priority to the safety of its passengers and crew,” an airline spokesperson said.

The flight with 135 passengers landed safely at the airport around 8 am and was moved to an isolation bay, airport sources said earlier. Passengers were safely evacuated from the flight by 8.44 am, they said. The bomb threat was communicated by the pilot at 7.30 am as the aircraft approached the Thiruvananthapuram airport, the sources said.

Subsequently, a full emergency was declared at the airport at 7.36 am, they said. “There has been no impact on life. Airport operations are currently uninterrupted,” the sources said. Details on the origin of the threat and other information are awaited, they added.