IndiGo hijack-threat scare: What happened, what airport sources say, what is unclear

What happened: flight 6E-451 turned back to Bengaluru after a note was found in a toilet.

What airport sources say: no suspicious objects were found and the threat was a hoax.

What differs: reports disagree on whether a passenger or a crew member found the note.

What is unclear: no arrest or charge has been reported.

What is not stated: the aircraft type, the landing time and the time the flight resumed.

The flight took off from Bengaluru at 5:50 pm with 178 passengers on board, according to The Federal.

The note read, in the words reported by The Federal, that the plane was going to get hijacked exactly at 06:30 and that the reader should ignore and see the consequences.

The note gives no AM or PM marker, and the reports describe the time as 6:30 pm, so the exact time stated is an interpretation.

Reports differ on who found the note: The Federal says a passenger spotted it mid-air and alerted the crew, while Vartha Bharati says a crew member found it.

The pilot informed air traffic control and sought priority clearance to return to Bengaluru, according to the reports.

The aircraft was in the air for 51 minutes before returning, according to Flightradar24 data cited by Vartha Bharati.

A full emergency was declared at Kempegowda International Airport’s Terminal 1 as a precaution, according to The Federal.

After landing, the aircraft was moved to an isolated area, and CISF, Bengaluru police and other agencies surrounded it, according to Vartha Bharati.

All passengers were evacuated as per standard operating procedures, according to the same report.

A bomb disposal squad and a dog squad checked the aircraft and the passengers’ baggage, according to Vartha Bharati.

Airport sources told The Hindu that no suspicious objects were found and that the threat was found to be a hoax after the inspection, according to Vartha Bharati, and the emergency was withdrawn.

IndiGo Airbus A320 (file image, not the aircraft involved), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0