Airlines received 999 hoax bomb threats till Nov 14 this year, most calls made to Delhi

New Delhi: Various domestic airlines received close to 1,000 hoax bomb threats this year till November 14 with 666 coming in October alone, the government has informed Rajya Sabha.

A total of 1,148 hoax bomb threat messages/calls were received from August 2022 till November 13 of which 27 were during August-December 2022, 122 in 2023 and 999 hoax bomb threats this year till November 14.

The responses were part of written replies provided by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol in Rajya Sabha on Monday and in Lok Sabha on Thursday.

According to the Minister in Lok Sabha, 256 FIRs have been filed this year till November 14, out of which 163 have been filed between October 14 and November 14. Twelve arrests have been made in view of hoax bomb threats this year. Five more hoax calls were reported on November 14.

If one analyses the data from January 2023 till November 13 this year, Delhi has received the maximum of 282 hoax calls regarding flights, followed by Maharashtra at 244.

Karnataka is the third in this list, receiving 99 such calls between 1 January, 2023 and November 13 this year while other south Indian states have lesser numbers -- Kerala 59, Tamil Nadu 58, Telangana 48, Andhra Pradesh 21 and Goa 19.

In the last three months when 680 hoax calls were received, IndiGo (197), Air India (178) and Vistara (151) got the highest number of hoax calls.

The details were provided by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol in written replies on Monday to separate questions by Rajya Sabha MPs Kartikeya Sharma (independent), Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena-UBT), AD Singh (RJD), Parimal Nathwani (independent) and John Brittas (CPI-M).

Those who raised questions in Lok Sabha included Gaddigoudar, P Chandana Gowda, Manish Tewari, Hibi Eden, Sajda Ahmed, Selvaganapathi TM, Kuldeep Indora, Kirsan Namdeo, Chandra Shekhaqr, Sougata Ray and Tejasvi Surya.

"The recent threats were hoaxes and no actual threat was detected at any of the airports/aircraft in India. As per assessment of BTAC, operations of some of the flights were affected," Mohol said, adding the threats were received from random stations and not from any specific locations.

The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), the country's aviation security regulator, has mandated robust protocols for handling such threats. Bomb threat contingency plan (BTCP) is in place to handle such threats, he said.

As part of BTCP, every airport has a designated Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) which analyses the threat and act accordingly. BCAS has issued advisories to all the Civil Aviation Installations in the country to streamline security measures and to prevent any unlawful interference with civil aviation, he said.

"Hoax bomb calls result in adversely affecting operations of some of the flights resulting in impact on airlines, airports and other stakeholders," Mohol said.

To a separate question by Sikender Kumar, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation Act, 1982 makes it clear that if any person communicates such information which he knows to be false so as to endanger the safety of an aircraft in flight, the person shall be punished with imprisonment for life and shall also be liable to fine.

"Amendment in the above Act and in Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023 is under consultation to make it more comprehensive as per evolving threats," he said while adding that no amendment to the Aircraft Act, 1934 is under consideration of the government.