IndiGo 6E-451 hijack threat note: Timeline, airport response and latest update
An IndiGo flight from Bengaluru to Lucknow turned back after a handwritten hijack threat was found in a toilet, and the threat was later found to be a hoax, according to airport sources.
5:50 pm: the flight takes off from Bengaluru with 178 passengers.
Mid-air: a note warning of a hijacking is found in a toilet.
51 minutes later: the aircraft returns and a full emergency is declared.
Inspection: no suspicious objects found, and the threat is called a hoax.
Latest: an investigation is under way.
The note gives no AM or PM marker, and the reports describe the time as 6:30 pm, so the exact time stated is an interpretation.
Reports differ on who found the note: The Federal says a passenger spotted it mid-air and alerted the crew, while Vartha Bharati says a crew member found it.
The pilot informed air traffic control and sought priority clearance to return to Bengaluru, according to the reports.
The aircraft was in the air for 51 minutes before returning, according to Flightradar24 data cited by Vartha Bharati.
A full emergency was declared at Kempegowda International Airport’s Terminal 1 as a precaution, according to The Federal.
After landing, the aircraft was moved to an isolated area, and CISF, Bengaluru police and other agencies surrounded it, according to Vartha Bharati.
All passengers were evacuated as per standard operating procedures, according to the same report.
A bomb disposal squad and a dog squad checked the aircraft and the passengers’ baggage, according to Vartha Bharati.
Airport sources told The Hindu that no suspicious objects were found and that the threat was found to be a hoax after the inspection, according to Vartha Bharati, and the emergency was withdrawn.
The Federal’s report does not state a hoax finding, and says only that the flight would take off again after security clearances.
Police questioned passengers, and sources told NDTV that investigators suspected the note may have been planted by someone on board, according to The Federal.
Officials said an investigation had been launched to identify the person who left the note, according to Vartha Bharati.
IndiGo Airbus A320 (file image, not the aircraft involved), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Reporting for Hindustan Hunt on news and stories from across India.
