Inflight Bomb Hoax Forces Emergency Landing Of Hyderabad-Chennai Plane
Airport security officials, bomb detection experts and personnel from the security agencies surrounded the aircraft after landing. All 198 occupants were evacuated and subjected to security checks.
Chennai: An IndiGo flight from Hyderabad to Chennai, carrying 198 people, was subjected to an emergency security check after a handwritten bomb threat was found inside the aircraft while it was flying at around 32,000 feet on Friday.
The flight, with 192 passengers and six crew members on board, took off from Hyderabad around noon and was scheduled to land at Chennai airport at about 1 pm.
While the aircraft was at mid-air, a staff member noticed a tissue paper pasted inside the aircraft washroom. It reportedly carried the message “BOOM – 1.50 PM”, raising fears that a bomb had been planted on board and could explode at the specified time.
The crew immediately alerted the pilot, who informed the Chennai airport control room. Security arrangements were stepped up and the aircraft was diverted to a remote parking bay instead of its designated parking area. It landed at Chennai airport at around 12.58 pm.
Airport security officials, bomb detection experts and personnel from the security agencies surrounded the aircraft after landing. All 198 occupants were evacuated and subjected to security checks.
Bomb disposal personnel, accompanied by sniffer dogs, conducted a thorough search of the aircraft, including the cabin, washrooms and passengers' baggage. The aircraft was kept under close watch for more than an hour, particularly until the time mentioned in the threat message.
Even after 1.50 pm, no suspicious object or untoward incident was detected. The security agencies continued the checks until around 2.30 pm before concluding that the message was a bomb hoax.
Chennai airport police have registered a case and launched an investigation to identify the person who wrote the message and pasted it inside the aircraft washroom.