Dammam-Delhi Air India Express flight lands in Ahmedabad after bomb scare

An Air India Express flight from Dammam in Saudi Arabia to Delhi made an emergency landing in Ahmedabad on Monday (August 31) evening after a piece of tissue with the word “bomb” written on it was discovered in a lavatory of the aircraft, police said.

All passengers were taken off the plane and were being questioned, police said. No case had been registered until the time of filing this report. “A tissue paper was found from the lavatory with “bomb” written on it. The flight made an emergency landing at Ahmedabad airport,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 4) Atul Bansal said.

There were 32 passengers on board, Bansal said. “All of them have been deboarded and their questioning is being done. Security agencies are also checking the plane. Once the checking is over, an offence will be registered,” the officer said.

A PTI report quoted an Air India Express spokesperson as saying the aircraft had been diverted to Ahmedabad following a “specific bomb threat”, and that all passengers had disembarked safely. The report quoted police as saying security agencies had checked the aircraft thoroughly and found nothing suspicious.

“One of our flights from Dammam to Delhi was diverted to Ahmedabad as a precaution and in keeping with security protocols after being notified of a specific bomb threat,” the spokesperson said, according to PTI. “The government-appointed Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) was alerted immediately, and all security procedures promptly initiated.

The flight landed and all guests have been disembarked safely. The aircraft will be released for operations after necessary security checks are completed,” the spokesperson said. A BTAC is constituted at each airport to assess the gravity of a bomb threat call.

“As per the decision of airport-specific BTAC, action is taken to offload passengers with their cabin baggage, check-in baggage, cargo, catering, etc. It is followed by re-screening of the passengers and their carry-on items, hold baggage, cargo, catering items, and search of empty aircraft by airlines, engineering and security staff before permitting to send the aircraft for flight operation,” the Ministry of Civil Aviation told Lok Sabha in an answer to a question on ‘Security Threats on Flights’ in February 2016.

The PTI report quoted Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), 'G' Division, V N Yadav, as saying “The aircraft made an emergency landing at the Ahmedabad International Airport at around 4.30 pm after a crew member found a tissue paper in the washroom having text "bomb" written on it".

The officer said all passengers were safe and had been accommodated at Terminal 2 of the airport.