Air India's Toronto-Delhi flight gets bomb threat; flight lands safely in national capital

New Delhi: Authorities on Thursday received a bomb threat message for an Air India flight when it was flying from Toronto to Delhi, and later, the flight landed safely in the national capital, according to sources.

In the morning, Delhi Police received a message claiming bomb threat for the flight AI188. Subsequently, the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) was constituted at the Delhi airport, and it was assessed that the threat was "non-specific", the sources told PTI.

The message was received at around 11.30 am when the flight, operated with a Boeing 777 aircraft, was mid-air and was little over four hours away from Delhi, the sources said.

When contacted, an Air India spokesperson said a security alert was communicated regarding the flight AI188 during its cruise from Toronto to Delhi on Thursday.

"On board crew carried out all the laid down security drills, keeping passenger safety & security as top priority. The flight has landed safely at Delhi and has been parked for the mandatory security checks by the security as per the protocol," the spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson also said that all passengers and crew have disembarked safely.

The flight landed at the Delhi airport at around 3.40 pm.

The duration of the Toronto-Delhi flight, operated with a Boeing 777 aircraft, was a little over 15 hours, as per information available on flight tracking website Flightradar24.com.