17-Year-Old's Hoax Bomb Threats Spark Chaos in Indian Air Travel

In the past three days, air travel in India has been chaotic due to nearly 19 false bomb threats.

These threats have caused many flight delays and diversions, affecting passengers and airline staff.

Officials are investigating these incidents, and Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said law enforcement is looking into each case.

The government is also thinking about stricter penalties, like placing offenders on no-fly lists.

A minor has been taken into custody. On Wednesday, Mumbai Police arrested a 17-year-old boy from Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh along with his father.

The police reported that the threats were allegedly made by the boy to frame a friend with whom he had a financial disagreement.

The minor has been placed in a remand home while his father is still being questioned. Investigations reveal that the teenager allegedly created an account on X under his friend’s name and issued bomb threats from it. The teenager aimed to implicate a friend he had a falling out with over money.

“The minor has a financial dispute involving about Rs 3 lakh with the man and has also filed a sexual assault case against him under the POCSO Act. Initial findings suggest that the boy posted the hoax messages to target him,” a senior police officer told Indian Express.

He is believed to be responsible for hoax threats to four flights, including Air India flight AI 119 from Mumbai to New York, which was redirected to New Delhi.

Other threats reportedly came from abroad, but authorities have not disclosed the countries involved.

In total, there were 19 threats in 72 hours. The threats started on Monday, October 14, and continued until yesterday, October 16. Officials indicate that all 19 flights that received bomb threats, both domestic and international, were hoaxes.

On Monday, three flights were targeted: Air India's Mumbai-New York flight, IndiGo's Mumbai-Jeddah, and Mumbai-Muscat flights.

Air India stated that flight AI-119 received a specific security alert and was diverted to Delhi according to the directives of the government’s security committee.

Passengers were accommodated in hotels after security protocols were followed, and the flight was rescheduled for Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, IndiGo flight 6E 57, scheduled to fly from Mumbai to Jeddah, faced an 11-hour delay due to a threat. IndiGo flight 6E 1275 from Mumbai to Muscat also dealt with a threat and was taken to a secure area for inspection, departing around 9:15 am after a delay of roughly seven hours.

The threats persisted on Tuesday, affecting another seven flights: Air India Express from Jaipur to Bengaluru, SpiceJet from Darbhanga to Mumbai, Akasa Air from Bagdogra to Bengaluru, Air India from Delhi to Chicago, IndiGo from Dammam to Lucknow, Alliance Air from Amritsar to Dehradun to Delhi, and Air India Express from Madurai to Singapore.

Officials noted that the Tuesday threats came from one X account—@schizobomber777—which has since been suspended. On Wednesday, threats continued, impacting seven flights—four from IndiGo, two from SpiceJet, and one from Akasa Air.

In the case of the Akasa Air flight, the aircraft carrying 184 passengers returned to Delhi due to the bomb threat.