An Air India flight taking off from Phuket in Thailand to Delhi returned and made an emergency landing after receiving a bomb threat on Friday. Reuters reported that all 156 passengers on flight AI379 had been escorted from the plane, in line with emergency plans, quoting an airport official.
The Airbus A320-251N took off from Phuket International Airport at around 9:05 AM (local time), but took an U-turn around the Andaman Sea and landed back at the Phuket Airport at around 9:30 AM.
As per flight history on flightradar24, the flight had reached an altitude of around 30000 feet when it made a U-turn and reached Phuket 40 minutes later. However, the aircraft hovered over the airport for almost one and half hours before landing.
The aircraft was checked after it landed, and no bomb was found.
Air India sources said, “A security alert was detected on Air India flight from Phuket to Delhi. The crew carried out all the laid down security drills keeping passenger safety & security. The flight has returned to Phuket and is undergoing mandatory regulatory checks. All passengers and crew have been disembarked safely”.
