An Air India flight scheduled to fly from Kolkata to Mumbai was moved to an isolation bay on Wednesday after a note threatening a hijacking was found in the aircraft’s washroom before take-off, prompting security officials to deboard passengers and begin precautionary checks.
The flight was scheduled to depart Kolkata at 10.20am. According to Kolkata airport director Vikram Singh, the note was found shortly before departure and stated that the aircraft would be hijacked at 11.10am.
All passengers who had boarded the aircraft were asked to leave the plane after the note was discovered. The aircraft was then taken to an isolation bay at the airport, where security protocols were activated for inspection and other necessary precautionary measures.
Singh said the note was found in the washroom of the aircraft. The airport director’s statement was reported by news agency PTI. The report did not provide details about the number of passengers on board, the identity of the person who placed the note, or whether the threat had been assessed as credible.
Moving an aircraft to an isolation bay separates it from normal airport operations while security personnel carry out checks. In this case, the action followed the discovery of the written threat before the scheduled departure of the Mumbai-bound flight.
The incident affected the aircraft’s planned departure from Kolkata airport and required passengers to be removed from the plane while the security response was carried out. The report did not specify whether the flight would operate later, whether passengers would be accommodated on another aircraft, or how long the inspection would take.
The note’s stated time of 11.10am was later than the flight’s scheduled departure time, but the aircraft was moved for inspection before it left the airport. The report also did not state whether any prohibited item was found during the search or whether investigators had identified a suspect.
Airports rely on layered security procedures involving passenger screening, aircraft checks and responses to threats or suspicious objects. The immediate steps reported in Kolkata were the deboarding of passengers, isolation of the aircraft and a thorough inspection.
Further details about the investigation, the outcome of the aircraft inspection and the flight’s operating status were not available in the supplied report. Kolkata airport officials are expected to provide the next update after the security checks and necessary procedures are completed.
