Air India Flight Returns to Phuket After Bomb Threat

A photograph obtained from social media depicts Air India flight AI 379 after it was forced to make an emergency landing at Phuket Airport in Thailand on June 13th. The emergency landing was prompted by a bomb threat discovered while the flight was in the air.

On Friday, an Air India flight traveling from Phuket, Thailand, to New Delhi, India, was subject to an onboard bomb threat. The aircraft subsequently returned to Phuket and made an emergency landing.

According to an Airports of Thailand official, all 156 passengers aboard flight AI 379 were safely evacuated from the plane as per established emergency protocols. The flight had departed from Phuket airport at 9:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) bound for the Indian capital. Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 indicates that the aircraft made a significant loop around the Andaman Sea before returning to the southern Thai island. This incident occurred shortly after an Air India flight crashed in Ahmedabad on Thursday, resulting in the loss of over 240 lives.

Airports of Thailand did not release any details regarding the nature of the bomb threat. Air India has not yet provided a response to requests for comment. Indian airlines and airports experienced a surge in hoax bomb threats last year, with nearly 1,000 false calls and messages received within the first ten months, representing a substantial increase compared to the previous year.