Hours after a Shillong-bound IndiGo flight was grounded due to a bomb threat that was later confirmed to be a hoax, another security alert was raised on Saturday evening when a suspicious message was found in the toilet of the Dibrugarh-Kolkata flight, PTI reported quoting officials.
“IndiGo flight 6E 6894 landed safely at 19:37 at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport and was immediately taken to an isolation bay as per safety protocol. All passengers were safely disembarked,” the statement said.
The message, allegedly written in lipstick, was found in the plane’s lavatory and “suggested a bomb threat,” he added.
Earlier in the day, a Shillong-bound plane was detained at the Kolkata airport for around four hours after a bomb threat was reported.
IndiGo Flight 6E 7304 was moved to an isolation bay after a handwritten note was discovered saying a bomb had been placed on the plane.
The threat was later revealed to be a hoax and after a thorough search as per standard flight security procedures, the flight departed for Shillong at 13:33.
A spokesman for the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said one of the crew found the ticket in the plane’s toilet at around 9:15 am, roughly 15 minutes before the scheduled departure, PTI reported.
The passengers were then safely disembarked and the aircraft was moved to an isolation bay. Standard security protocols were followed and a thorough check was carried out by the agencies concerned, as reported by PTI.
Last month, on January 23, IndiGo Flight 6E 2608 from Delhi to Pune received a bomb threat when a handwritten note was discovered in the plane’s toilet upon arrival at the Pune airport.
(With input from agencies)
After completion of all safety checks and clearance by security authorities, the aircraft has been declared safe for operation, the AAI spokesperson added.