WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AN AIRLINE RECEIVES A BOMB THREAT AND HOW MUCH COULD DIVERSIONS COST?
Airlines have established procedures for assessing bomb threats, with the response depending on the threats’ credibility and whether the aircraft is on the ground or already airborne.
In a statement on Thursday, Joji Waites, director of flight safety at the British Airlines Pilots Association (Balpa), said any threat received by an airline would be passed to a team of assessors who would grade its credibility.
Threats are graded “red” if deemed credible, “amber” if partly credible and “green” if not credible. For aircraft already in flight, only red or green classifications are used, he said.
If a threat is deemed credible, the flight crew is immediately informed and the captain makes all the decisions, guided by a safety checklist, said Waites.
If the aircraft is on the ground, this could mean evacuating passengers.
For those already airborne, the priority is to land as soon and as safely as possible.
“Pilots are highly trained and skilled professionals. Their expertise is invaluable in ensuring passenger safety and keeping aviation one of the safest forms of transport there is,” Waites said.
Airlines, airport operators and law enforcement generally follow guidelines developed by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and the International Civil Aviation Organization, which conducts audits to ensure compliance.
Flight crew training includes live situational exercises covering various threats, including how to search for explosives that may have been smuggled on board.
When threats are called in, airline employees are instructed to keep the caller on the line and to gather as much information as possible, Baum told AP.
Many of the threats received this week were sent by email, with enough information for authorities to determine that aircraft needed inspection.
Such responses can be costly for airlines, especially when flights must be diverted, passengers evacuated or aircraft searched.
Baum of Coventry University said diverting a flight because of an unruly passenger or a bomb threat can cost up to US$250,000.
The costs may be lower in this case because most of the disrupted flights were short-haul, where there is less likelihood of overnight delays, he said.
