Explosives found on Kingfisher aircraft in India

Explosives are thought to have been found aboard a passenger plane in southern India. A package containing explosive materials were found wrapped in newspaper in the shape of a cricket ball. After crew members discovered a bag containing the package in the cargo hold, all 27 passengers had already disembarked.

The aircraft, which belongs to Indian carrier Kingfisher Airlines, has now been removed to an isolated area at the Thiruvananthapuram airport located in the state of Kerala. The aircraft had earlier arrived in from Bangalore.

UK Bansal, special secretary for internal security for the home ministry, commented that the discovery shows a serious lapse in security. He added that no detonator was found or timing device meaning the bomb would not have gone off on its own.

Regardless, he commented, it was still a bomb that was aloud to get onto the aircraft without security catching it. Just last month, an explosion in India’s western city of Pune killed 16 people.  The first major attack since the militant strike in Mumbai in 2008.

Indian airlines were warned by the home ministry to take extra security precautions in the wake of an intelligence threat received last January on Republic Day regarding a plane hijacking.

Ajith Jumar, Thiruvananthapuram’s police commissioner, said that its possible the explosives had been placed on the plane after it landed. The authorities plan on investigating the situation further as well as analyzing the aircraft at the airport.