BREAKING: Air India flight isolated after bomb threat in Bangkok

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Occupants flee Air India jet at Bangkok airport after in-flight bomb threats

AP
MAR 17, 2016

BANGKOK – Passengers and crew of an Air India jetliner were evacuated using emergency slides at Bangkok’s international airport, and authorities searched the plane for explosives after an apparent bomb hoax Wednesday, officials said.

The scare was prompted by an anonymous call received by the national carrier’s office in India, warning of an explosive aboard Flight 332 en route from the Indian capital, New Delhi, to Bangkok, said Air India’s Thailand manager, Indranil Banerjee.

As soon as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner landed at Suvarnabhumi International Airport, the pilots were told to park the aircraft in an isolated spot. All 231 passengers and 10 crew members were immediately evacuated using the aircraft’s inflatable slides, Banerjee said.

Security personnel searched the plane but nothing was found, Banerjee said.

Press Trust of India quoted an Air India statement as saying the flight was a little more than one hour away from its destination when “two bomb threat calls were received” by the airline. The pilots were informed and asked the Bangkok Air Traffic Control for priority landing, the statement said.

The aircraft, which was scheduled to fly to Mumbai on Wednesday night, will now depart on Thursday.