An Air India flight en route from Phuket to New Delhi was forced to make an emergency landing back on the Thai island on Friday morning following an onboard bomb threat, airport authorities confirmed.
Flight AI 379, carrying 156 passengers, took off from Phuket International Airport at 9:05am and was scheduled to arrive at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi at 12:04pm local time.
Shortly after takeoff, the pilot was alerted to a threatening message discovered inside the aircraft.
“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,” said Monchai Tanode, director of Phuket International Airport, during a press conference.
The Airbus A320 landed safely, and all passengers were escorted off the aircraft without incident. Authorities later confirmed that no explosives were found onboard, and the airport remained fully operational throughout the incident.
Police initially questioned three passengers but have yet to identify who was responsible for writing the message. Investigators from Sakhu police station are collecting forensic evidence, including DNA samples from the note, in an effort to find the perpetrator.
According to Air India station manager Debasish Choudhury, the note was discovered shortly after the plane reached cruising altitude, once the lavatories became accessible.
Cabin crew suspect the note may have been placed during the boarding process, when limited visibility in the aisles made monitoring difficult. There are no surveillance cameras in the lavatory area.
Passengers seated near the lavatory and a family involved in a seating dispute were among those interviewed, but no conclusive evidence has emerged.
Flight tracking data from FlightRadar24 showed that the flight eventually departed again at 4:28pm, more than seven hours after its original departure time.
The incident comes just one day after another Air India flight, traveling from Ahmedabad to London, crashed shortly after takeoff, killing at least 265 people onboard and on the ground.
