Bomb hoax about 5 Jet Airways flights sends IGIA into tizzy

Panic was created at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Tuesday after the Jet Airways call centre received a threat of bombs in five of its aircraft, hours after blasts ripped through Brussels airport killing over 30.

While three of the planes had already departed by the time the anonymous call about the bomb threats was received, the fourth aircraft bound for Chennai was diverted to Nagpur, sources said. Another plane, also bound for Chennai which was preparing for takeoff, was grounded and is currently being checked by security agencies, a senior police official said.

Jet Airways said its Delhi-Chennai fight (9W 828) was diverted to Nagpur while the other Chennai flight (9W 832) was moved to the isolation bay of the Delhi airport. The airport sources said: “The flight is currently being checked. Boarding for this flight had not started when the information came.” By the time the threat call was received, flights 9W 307 (Delhi-Dehradun), 9W 2657 (Delhi-Chandigarh) and 9W 2647 (Delhi-Gorakhpur) had landed safely.

“Jet Airways has received a security alert for five flights from Delhi. All flights are on ground and are being checked by security agencies at the respective airports,” the airline said in a tweet but did not share specific details. “We regret the inconvenience caused to our guests. The safety and security of our guests and crew is always our main priority.”

Earlier in the day, over 30 people were killed and many injured, including two crew members of Jet Airways, in explosions at Brussels international airport.

Meanwhile, on March 17, a hoax bomb threat kept the security agencies on toes and two flights were grounded just before take off, leaving over 300 passengers stranded for eight hours at IGI Airport. The Kathmandu flight (RA-206) had 155 passengers and nine crew members, while the flight bound for Bhubaneswar (AI-075) had 178 fliers and seven crew members.