Air India flight from Mumbai to London gets bomb threat, declares emergency

An Air India flight from Mumbai to London declared an emergency on Thursday after receiving a bomb threat. The aircraft issued a ‘squawking 7700,’ a signal by pilots to declare a general emergency just an hour before landing. 
According to FlightRadar 24, an online flight tracking website, the Boeing 777, operated by Air India, took off at 7:05 a.m. (IST) from Mumbai towards East England and declared an emergency. 
This bomb threat adds to the series of threats issued over the last few days. Airlines such as Vistara, Air India, Akasa, and Indigo have received such threats.
On Thursday, a Vistara flight from Frankfurt to Mumbai also received a bomb threat on social media.
Similarly, a London-bound Air India aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing after receiving a bomb threat on October 14. On the same day, two Indigo flights from Mumbai to Muscat and Mumbai to Jeddah also received bomb threats.
Following these incidents, the Union Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu chaired a high-level committee with officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Aviation on October 14.
“Strongly condemn the recent bomb threats to Indian air carriers. We are closely monitoring the situation and ensuring that every necessary measures are taken against such actions. We are Committed in maintaining the highest security standards and passenger safety remains our topmost priority,” the Aviation Minister wrote on X.
Additionally, he also informed that the Mumbai police had arrested a minor responsible for three such bomb threats.
According to a PTI report, the aviation ministry is planning to introduce strict rules to prevent hoax bomb threats to airlines, including adding names to the no-fly list.
The report added that the ministry will also try to amend the existing rules, including those related to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), to ensure stricter punishment.