Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 22, 2024, IANS

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 22 (IANS) High tension erupted at the Thiruvananthapuram airport here on Thursday morning when an Air India flight from Mumbai made an emergency landing following a bomb threat. The incident took place around 7.30 a.m. when the pilot of the Air India flight informed the airport authorities about the threat. There has been no word on how the pilot of the aircraft got the threat and more information is awaited. As soon as the message of the threat was received, the airport went into full alert mode. The bomb squad and all other emergency services were quickly positioned. After the plane made a touchdown around 8 a.m., it was moved to an isolated area of the airport and all the 136 passengers, including the crew on board, were evacuated safely. The entire baggage and the cargo on the aircraft were being screened with utmost caution. Bomb experts entered the plane and were carrying out a thorough check. The authorities said that so far nothing unusual had been detected and things appeared to be normal with the plane. Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in the entire airport. The authorities said that the airport was functioning normally. According to information received, even as the authorities were leaving nothing to chance in the checking and detection procedures, the threat was most likely a hoax. The passengers were also expected to come out soon and leave for their respective destinations. The details on the origin of the threat and other information were awaited.