Phuket, Thailand – An Air India flight bound for New Delhi from Thailand’s Phuket island was forced to make an emergency landing Friday shortly after takeoff due to an on-board bomb threat. The incident casts a new shadow over the airline, coming just one day after a London-bound Air India passenger jet crashed in Ahmedabad, India, resulting in at least 265 fatalities on board and on the ground.
Airports of Thailand confirmed on its official Facebook page for Phuket that the pilot of the Airbus A320 radioed air traffic control after a bomb threat message was discovered within the aircraft’s bathroom. “We received a report of a bomb threat written inside the aircraft’s bathroom, so the pilot informed the control tower and decided to divert the flight to Phuket International Airport after circling to burn off fuel,” Monchai Tanode, director of Phuket International Airport, told a press conference.
Police immediately initiated an investigation upon the aircraft’s return. Monchai added that “Police have brought in several suspects, but have not yet been able to identify who wrote the message.”
Flight tracking website FlightRadar24 showed the Phuket flight executing a U-turn over the Andaman Sea soon after its initial departure, then circling multiple times off the island’s coast before successfully landing. The flight eventually departed at 4:28 pm (0928 GMT), more than seven hours beyond its scheduled takeoff time.
This latest scare underscores heightened tensions surrounding Air India’s operations, following Thursday’s tragic crash in Ahmedabad. Investigations into both incidents are ongoing.
