KOCHI: Following a bomb threat, an IndiGo flight scheduled to Bengaluru from the Kochi airport, which was ready for take-off, was brought back, delaying the flight by nearly four hours on Monday.
The IndiGo flight 6E6482 scheduled to take off at 10:30 a.m. was delayed after Kochi Airport's CISF control room received a bomb threat call specific to the flight. All the passengers on board the flight were deboarded and it was isolated for further investigation.
"The aircraft that was already pushed back for scheduled departure at 10:30 a.m. 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.
All passengers (138 plus 1 infant) were offloaded and shifted back to the security hold area at gate 7. Simultaneously, the re-screening of baggage started, which was completed at 1 p.m.
"Nothing suspicious was found. The police registered a case and started an investigation to trace the origin of the internet call. The flight finally took off at 2:24 p.m. with all the passengers safely aboard," said the CIAL statement.