Passenger Held After London-Bound Air India Flight Receives Bomb Threat At Kochi

Kochi: Nedumbassery police in Kerala’s Kochi have booked a passenger for making a hoax call after an Air India AI 149 flight scheduled to fly from Cochin to London Gatwick received a bomb threat on Tuesday.

However, security personnel conducted extensive checks on the aircraft and found no danger, allowing the flight to proceed as planned, Cochin International Airport said in a statement.

The caller has been identified as a passenger Suhaib (29). He is a native of Kondotty in Malappuram district, who was scheduled to travel to London on the same flight along with his wife and daughter.

According to the airport spokesperson’s statement, a bomb threat call was received by the Air India call centre in Mumbai early on Tuesday. It was promptly communicated to Air India in Kochi and the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) at 01:22 hours following which a Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) was immediately convened.

The aircraft as recommended from Cochin Airport BTAC, was moved to an isolated aircraft parking point, and comprehensive security checks were conducted by the Airport Security Group (ASG-CISF), airline security personnel, and inline baggage screening systems.

The aircraft was then cleared for flight.

Meanwhile, Suhaib was intercepted by ASG at Cochin Airport’s international departure terminal during check-in and handed over to police for further questioning.

He has been charged under Section 506 (criminal intimidation) and the Kerala Police Act 118(b) (knowingly spreads rumours or gives false alarm to mislead the police, fire brigade or any other essential service) of Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Hindu reported.