NEW DELHI: The journey of 169 passengers on board an IndiGo flight from Dubai to Mangaluru was jinxed from start to finish on Saturday. A bomb threat received inside the flight before departure at Dubai International Airport was followed by bad weather at Mangaluru, leading to its diversion to Bengaluru airport.
After another intensive round of checks in connection with the earlier bomb threat, passengers were left stranded at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) late at night, nearly four hours after the aircraft landed there.
Flight No. 6E 1468, an Airbus A320, had a scheduled departure of 11.25 am (local UAE time) from Dubai. According to sources at KIA, “A tissue paper with the words ‘Bomb on board’ was detected in the toilet of the aircraft before it could take off. Extensive checks had to be undertaken at the Dubai airport before the threat was declared a hoax. The flight then took off after a delay of two hours and 28 minutes.” Bengaluru airport police confirmed the development.
The IndiGo flight approached Mangaluru airport around 6.42 pm but was not given permission to land due to bad weather. “The pilots were asked to divert the flight to Kempegowda International Airport,” a source said.
A KIA source said, “On the way to Bengaluru, the pilot reported to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) about the paper note in the toilet specifying a bomb threat. Just to be extra cautious, a temporary emergency was declared at the airport near the runway to allow this flight to have priority landing. It landed at Bengaluru at 7.23 pm and was immediately taken to an isolation bay.”
Meanwhile, the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee held an urgent meeting and declared it to be a non-specific threat (not life-threatening). “The emergency, which was in place at the runway for a short period, was lifted after the aircraft was isolated,” he added.
The passengers were deboarded, and intensive checks were conducted by the Central Industrial Security Force, with sniffer dogs also deployed. “It was again reconfirmed as a hoax.”
Confirming the incident, an airline source said, “A security threat was noticed on board flight 6E 1468 from Dubai to Mangaluru. It was diverted to Bengaluru. We have followed all the necessary security protocols.”
He added, “All the passengers were given refreshments. They were provided the choice to take a full refund, take a different flight, or wait for the flight to depart and reach its original destination, which is Mangaluru. The flight is still in Bengaluru (10.40 pm) and will shortly depart to its destination.”