Air India security threat: Ammunition cartridges found on Delhi-bound flight

Private aviator Air India on Saturday reported the discovery of an ammunition cartridge in the pocket of a seat on a Dubai-Delhi flight on 27 October, reported Times of India.
According to the details, the cartridge was found on the flight AI916 following it landed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.
“One ammunition cartridge was found in the pocket of a seat of our flight AI916 after it landed from Dubai at Delhi on 27 October 2024, and all passengers had safely disembarked,” TOI quoted an Air India spokesperson confirming the report.
“A complaint was immediately lodged with the Airport Police by Air India, strictly adhering to the laid down security protocols,” the spokesperson added.
Commonly known as a shell or round, a cartridge is a type of pre-assembled ammunition that typically packages a bullet, propellant, and primer within a metal casing. Cartridges are designed to be fired from firearms, and their presence on an aircraft is strictly prohibited as per security norms.
The following incident took place amid the recent surge in threats to target over 500 domestic and international flights. Though they were false alarms, they have raised security breach concerns. Most of the threats are being spread via social media platforms, leading to prompt action by authorities.
On 29 October, an IndiGo flight arriving in Vizag from Chennai received false bomb threats. The flight landed safely in the isolation bay, officials said.
IndiGo flight 6E917, departing from Chennai at 5.33 pm, was scheduled to land at Visakhapatnam at 5:10 pm, was forced to land safely in isolation bay after airline station manager informed that they had received a message from his regional security head regarding a bomb threat tweet from an ID AdamLanza202, in which the sender mentioned various Indigo Airlines flights including 6E917 MAA – VTZ.
In the last two weeks alone, security agencies have receiving over 400 hoax calls, prompting widespread concern regarding the potential implications for passenger safety and national security.
With the rise in cases, the Ministry of Civil Aviation is mulling implementing stricter countermeasures against hoax threats, including perpetrators to no-fly lists. Also, the Ministry of Information Technology has recently instructed social media biggies X and Meta to expedite removing misinformation and threats on their platforms.