Air India Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Onboard Bomb Threat

An Air India flight en route to New Delhi was forced to make an emergency landing on Friday following a bomb threat, just a day after the deadly Ahmedabad air crash.

The aircraft, flight AI379, had departed from Phuket, Thailand, heading for India’s capital when the threat was received mid-flight. Authorities at Airports of Thailand confirmed that the plane returned to Phuket, where all 156 passengers were safely evacuated in accordance with emergency protocols.

According to a statement, the bomb threat was discovered onboard after takeoff, prompting the crew to divert the plane back to Phuket. Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 shows the aircraft circling over the Andaman Sea before returning to the airport.

At a press briefing, Phuket Airport General Manager Monchai Tanode said a written bomb threat was found inside one of the aircraft’s lavatories. Thai police took several passengers in for questioning but were unable to identify the author of the note.

Air India spokesperson Debasish Choudhury later confirmed that three individuals were initially treated as suspects, but all were subsequently cleared of any involvement.

The incident comes on the heels of Thursday’s tragic crash involving another Air India flight, which plunged shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, killing 240 of the 241 people on board. The victims included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian.

India’s civil aviation sector has faced mounting security challenges in recent months. In 2024 alone, nearly 1,000 hoax bomb threats were reported across airlines and airports—almost ten times the number recorded the previous year. These threats have led to numerous flight disruptions and emergency procedures.

Authorities continue to investigate the latest incident while urging the public to take all aviation security alerts seriously.