KOCHI: A bomb threat delayed an IndiGo flight to Bengaluru by nearly four hours on Monday. Flight 6E6482 was scheduled to take off from Kochi at 10:30 AM when the airport’s CISF control room received the call, which turned out to be a hoax.
Following the threat, all passengers were deboarded and the flight was isolated for further investigation. “The aircraft that was already pushed back for scheduled departure at 10:30 AM was brought back to the stand following the bomb threat. After the evacuation of passengers, the aircraft was shifted to the isolation parking bay.
As per protocol, a bomb threat assessment committee chaired by the Airport Director has been convened, and interventions as per established procedure involving the CISF QRT, bomb squad, state police, CIAL departments ARFF, and security department were carried out,” said an official statement from Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL).
All 139 passengers, including an infant, were offloaded and shifted back to the security hold area at Gate 7. The re-screening of baggage was completed by 1 PM. “Nothing suspicious was found. The police registered a case and have initiated an investigation to trace the origin of the call. The flight finally took off at 2:24 PM. with all the passengers safely aboard, the CIAL statement added.
Four bomb threats in six months at Kochi airport
In the last six months, Kochi airport has received four bomb-threat calls. “Of these three were received via email, demanding money. “The latest one, received on Monday, was via a phone call,” said a police officer. “The investigation is ongoing. The CISF control room at the airport received the threat in English. Further investigation revealed that the number is registered in Kathmandu, Nepal. We are working on the lead,” said the officer. Several cases related to hoax bomb threats by passengers have also been filed this year. “These were mainly by passengers irritated by the prolonged security procedures. The random passing of comments by passengers is also cleared by airport security,” said the officer.