Kolkata:An Air Asia flight going from Kolkata to Mumbai had to make a mid-air turn and perform an emergency landing after a passenger allegedly threatened to blow up the aircraft.
Mohini Mondal, 25, a passenger onboard the AirAsia flight I5316, allegedly gave a note to one of the cabin crew, asking it to be delivered to the flight captain. The note said there were bombs strapped to her body and she would detonate them any moment, officials said. The pilot then decided to return to Kolkata.
Air Asia flight makes emergency landing after bomb threat onboard Read: 176 killed as Ukrainian airplane crashes in Iran
The flight took off at 9:57 pm on Saturday. An hour later, the flight informed the air traffic controller (ATC) that it was returning to Kolkata due to the bomb threat. A full emergency was declared by the ATC at 11 pm. After the plane landed at Kolkata airport, it was taken to the isolation bay at 11:46 pm.
Officials said they followed all protocol to handle such threats. The passenger was taken into custody by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
A thorough search of the plane was carried out and later the aviation regulator DGCA cleared the aircraft, officials said.
