Officials from the ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) appeared before the standing committee on transport, tourism, and culture in Parliament on Wednesday as part of a routine deposition. However, during the meeting, some MPs raised concerns about a spurt of hoax calls to airlines in the country over the past few days, not only creating panic among the public but also casting doubts over efforts to curb such episodes. The lawmakers also wanted to understand from the union government how it wanted to ensure the absolute safety of passengers on such flights and during such incidents.
Officials from the ministry of civil aviation assured the MPs that passenger safety and security were paramount for them. They added that the source of such hoax calls had been identified and further investigation was underway. While the officials did not have an exact count of the developments to be presented before the committee, they assured the panel that more details could be sent across in a written format at a later date.
They also assured the MPs that the ministry was working on a detailed review being undertaken by civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu himself along with top officials of all the departments across MoCA.
As far as the safety of passengers is concerned with these cases emerging, the panel was told that the ministry was in touch with concerned security agencies.
The officials also conveyed to the MPs that so far, no passenger safety had been compromised and all flyers had been safely moved to their locations, and also that on a couple of occasions, a full emergency had been declared at the airports and flights moved to the isolation bay to rule out any untoward incident.
On Wednesday, an Akasa Air flight to Bengaluru was diverted to Delhi after a hoax call. This was possibly the 11th such incident this week.
Other flights that received threats include Air India Delhi to Chicago, Air India Express Ayodhya to Bengaluru, Air India Madurai to Singapore, and IndiGo Dammam to Lucknow.
The standing committee chaired by Janata Dal (United) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Jha also discussed in principle some concerns around the aviation industry, including rising airfares and regional connectivity under the Centre’s UDAN scheme. The chairman assured the members that a discussion would be held on these issues separately.
In the committee’s next meeting, the focus will be on the road and transport department and officials from MoRTH and NHAI will depose before the panel.
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