A hijack threat to a Mumbai-bound Air India flight at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata turned out to be a hoax on Wednesday, with the aircraft departing for its destination at 5.38 pm after security checks.
The flight, AI 2772, was scheduled to depart at around 10.30 am when a threat note was discovered in its lavatory shortly before take-off, prompting airport authorities to activate security protocols.
According to Kolkata airport director Vikram Singh, the note, found by the cabin crew at 10.37 am, warned that the aircraft would be hijacked at 11.10 am.
The aircraft, which had 105 passengers on board, was immediately moved to an isolation bay and all passengers were deboarded. Security agencies subsequently carried out the prescribed checks to ascertain whether there was any threat to the aircraft.
Following the completion of the checks, authorities established that the threat was a hoax and cleared the aircraft for departure. The flight eventually took off at 5.38 pm, nearly seven hours behind schedule.
The incident comes amid a series of security alerts involving Indian passenger aircraft following the discovery of threatening messages on board.
Earlier this month, a Bengaluru-Lucknow IndiGo flight returned to Bengaluru after a passenger spotted a handwritten hijack threat inside the aircraft's lavatory. The passengers were deboarded and the aircraft subjected to security checks.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has prescribed procedures for assessing and responding to threats against aircraft and airport operations.
(With inputs from PTI)