Summary A bomb threat onboard an Air India flight from Mumbai to Thiruvananthapuram forced the latter airport to declare an emergency alert. Upon landing, the Air India Airbus A320neo taxied to a remote stand for additional safety checks. None of the passengers or crew members were injured during the event.
An Air India flight had received a bomb threat, forcing the aircraft to taxi to a remote stand and Thiruvananthapuram International Airport (TRV) to declare a brief emergency period due to the bomb scare. Bomb threat According to the Press Trust of India (PTI) , a bomb threat message was found on an Air India flight from Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (BOM) to TRV, prompting an emergency alert at the latter airport. Following extensive checks of the Air India aircraft, the local authorities withdrew the emergency alert at TRV, the PTI added.
Air India flight AI657 was operated by an Airbus A320neo , registered as VT-EXJ, Flightradar24 data showed. The aircraft departed BOM at 5:58 local time (UTC +5:30) and, following a one-hour and 53-minute flight, landed at TRV at 7:51. Three such incidents took place in the last few days.
Taxiing to a remote stand The history of the flight indicated that as the Air India A320neo landed at TRV, the aircraft proceeded to taxi to a remote stand, where security checks had been completed. In videos shared on social media, including X, formerly known as Twitter, the aircraft was seen parked remotely, with emergency services surrounding the A320neo. According to a statement by TRV, the flight reported a bomb threat at around 7:30, with an emergency situation being declared at the airport at 7:36.
No passengers or crew members were affected by the incident, the statement added, noting that TRV continued to operate normally. Air India stated that the crew of flight AI657 detected an emergency when the A320neo was still cruising between BOM and TRV. On the ground, the airline’s employees followed all safety processes, with the passengers disembarking the aircraft safely.
The flight ended up with less than 350 kg (772 lbs) of fuel onboard. One of two daily flights Flight AI657 is one of the two daily flights that Air India operates on the BOM – TRV route, with flight AI667 being the other, with the latter departing BOM at 17:40. According to data from the aviation analytics company Cirium , Air India deploys an Airbus A320neo with 162 seats (12 business, 150 economy class) on the AI657 itinerary, while the A667 flight is operated with a 180-seat A320ceo in an all-economy class configuration.
Other airlines serving the route are IndiGo and Vistara, which has a pending merger with Air India . Both carriers have daily flights from BOM to TRV. IndiGo’s flight departs BOM at 10:35, while Vistara’s leaves the former airport at 09:45.
The low-cost carrier has deployed an A320neo with 186 economy class seats, while Vistara has utilized an A320ceo with eight business and 156 economy class seats to operate the route from BOM to TRV. The airline will merge with another Indian full-service carrier called Vistara..
