AirAsia flight makes emergency landing as woman raises bomb hoax

A Mumbai-bound AirAsia flight made a mid-air turn and an emergency landing at the Kolkata airport after a woman passenger raised a hoax of carrying bombs with her.

Reports said the plane had to make an emergency landing after the passenger named Mohini Mondal, 25, on flight 15316 gave a note to one of the cabin crew, asking them to deliver it to the flight captain.

In the note, Mohini claimed that there were bombs strapped to her body and that she would detonate them any time, NDTV quoted an official as saying.

While the AirAsia flight had taken off at around 10 pm on Saturday (January 12), alarmed, the pilot informed the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) that it was returning to the base due to the threat. The ATC immediately declared an emergency and the plane was taken to the isolation bay after it landed at around 11.46 pm.

The woman passenger in question was taken into custody by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

The aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) carried out a full inspection of the aircraft and later it was declared to be a hoax.