Mumbai-bound Vistara Flight From Frankfurt Makes Emergency Landing After Bomb Threat

A Mumbai-bound Vistara flight carrying 147 people made an emergency landing on Thursday upon its arrival from Frankfurt in Germany following a bomb threat to the aircraft, a source said.

The Boeing 787 aircraft was immediately taken to the isolation bay at Mumbai airport for mandatory security checks, the source said. The flight landed safely at 7.45 am. There were 134 passengers and 13 crew members onboard, as per sources.

“Vistara Frankfurt flight, which had departed for Mumbai from Frankfurt on Wednesday at 8.20 pm (local time) made an emergency landing here at around 7.45 am on Thursday,” a source said.

Vistara, in a statement, said that its Frankfurt-Mumbai flight received a security alert but landed safely here.

“The Vistara flight UK 028 operating from Frankfurt to Mumbai on October 16, 2024, was subject to a security threat received on social media,” the airline said.

As per the protocol, all relevant authorities were immediately informed, it said, adding the aircraft safely landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai.

“It was taken to the isolation bay where all customers were disembarked. We are fully cooperating with the security agencies to complete the mandatory security checks,” Vistara said in the statement.

Bomb threats to flights

The fresh incident comes a day after Bengaluru-bound Akasa Air flight QP1335 with 184 passengers declared an emergency and returned to Delhi after it reportedly received a bomb threat. Minutes later, a Delhi-bound IndiGo flight from Mumbai had to be diverted to Ahmedabad due to similar reasons.

On Wednesday night, a minor was apprehended for sending bomb threats to four flights using a fake social media account that he made in his friend’s name to implicate him in the matter, sources said.

The minor, a class 11 dropout from Chhattisgarh, had some dispute with his friend over money. In a bid to take revenge, the minor made an account on X, formerly Twitter, in his friend’s name to send threats on October 14, sources added.

(With PTI inputs)