An Air India flight from Kolkata to Mumbai carrying 105 passengers aborted take-off after a hijack threat was found in the aircraft lavatory, triggering a full security drill and delaying the departure by more than seven hours on Wednesday.
Flight AI 2772 was scheduled to leave Kolkata at 10.20am but finally took off at 5.38pm after the passengers, their baggage and the aircraft were screened again. A cabin crew member found the cryptic note at 10.37am, when the aircraft was at the holding point and minutes away from entering the runway.
The note read: “Flight AI 2772 will may be hijacking 11:11.” Officials said it was not immediately clear whether “11:11” referred to 11.11am or November 11.
The discovery led to the immediate activation of the hijack protocol. The aircraft aborted its departure, made a U-turn and was moved to an isolation bay. Passengers were asked to leave the aircraft with their hand baggage, while checked-in luggage was offloaded for identification and security checks.
“According to protocol, passengers were asked to alight with their hand luggage. The registered luggage was also offloaded and passengers were asked to identify it,” an airport official said. The passengers were then taken to the terminal building, where they underwent frisking and their hand baggage was screened again through X-ray machines.
The checked-in luggage was also brought to the terminal for repeat X-ray checks. At the isolation bay, security personnel conducted a thorough search of the aircraft cabin. Officials said that after nothing suspicious was found, the aircraft, crew and passengers were cleared for departure.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security is examining the note and investigating the repeated discovery of threats in aircraft lavatories and other areas at Kolkata airport. The airport official said the authority had been asked to review measures that could prevent similar incidents from recurring.
The incident is the fourth security threat involving flights or airport areas at Kolkata airport since September 4. In the first case, a Kolkata-Gorakhpur flight carrying 185 passengers was grounded after a crew member found a bomb threat in the aircraft lavatory.
On October 8, a bomb threat email led to a major security alert and additional checks. On October 23, a handwritten note found near a women’s washroom claimed that a bomb had been planted at the entry gate, prompting another round of heightened security checks.
The Air India flight was eventually allowed to continue to Mumbai after the aircraft, passengers, crew and baggage completed the required security procedures. The BCAS review is the next official step in examining the sequence of threats and the airport’s preventive response.
