Air India Bomb Threat: There was sudden chaos in an Air India flight coming from Dammam, Saudi Arabia to the country's capital Delhi, when a tissue paper with 'bomb' written on it was found inside the toilet of the plane. The plane was in the air and as soon as the crew member noticed this suspicious slip, the cabin crew and the pilot lost their senses. Keeping safety paramount, the pilot contacted the nearest airport without any delay and diverted the plane towards Ahmedabad, Gujarat. After this, the plane made an emergency landing at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport with utmost precaution.
Safe landing in Ahmedabad and immediate action
The plane landed safely at Ahmedabad airport at around 4.15 pm. Sensing the seriousness of the situation, the air traffic controller decided to send the Boeing aircraft to a separate isolation bay located far away instead of bringing it directly to the main passenger terminal. As soon as the plane stopped, standard emergency protocol was fully implemented and all the emergency units present at the airport were activated. The great thing of relief was that all the thirty-two passengers on board the plane were taken out safely without any problem.
Security and strict monitoring of passengers
All thirty-two passengers disembarked from the plane were taken directly to Terminal 2 amidst the security cordon. There the security forces kept the passengers under strict surveillance so that no other disturbance of any kind could take place. With this, fire engines, ambulances and other relief teams immediately gathered on the tarmac. A senior official associated with the airport said that when the crew member found this slip during routine cabin check, he immediately alerted the pilot. As per protocol, it was decided to land the aircraft on the nearest suitable runway without taking any risk.
Bomb disposal squad took charge
After parking the aircraft in the isolation bay, the bomb disposal squad along with central security agencies and local airport police started a huge search operation. With the help of sniffer dogs and modern equipment, security forces searched every inch of the aircraft's cabin, cargo hold and external structure. Security agencies want to ensure that no suspicious object or explosive has been hidden anywhere in the plane. Due to this intensive investigation, heavy security arrangements were deployed in this part of the airport.
Close scrutiny of handwriting and signature
In this entire matter, the investigating officers are not limited to just searching the plane, but are also trying to find out whose action it is. The investigation team has started separate interrogation of all the thirty-two passengers present in the plane. Officials are trying to find out which passengers had gone to the toilet just before receiving the slip. Apart from this, handwriting samples and signatures of all the passengers are also being taken to match the writing on the tissue paper, so that the person making the threat can be identified.
Awaiting security clearance
The aircraft will be kept in the isolation bay until the forensic teams and sniffer dogs complete the entire investigation process and submit their final clearance report. Security officials say that it is not yet clear whether this was someone's mischief or there was a real threat. Top security officials are continuously monitoring this entire incident and the matter is being investigated from every aspect.
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