- Suspicious 'BOOM - 1.50 PM' note found in IndiGo flight lavatory.
- Hyderabad-Chennai flight made emergency landing at Chennai airport.
- 198 people evacuated; bomb threat declared a hoax.
A suspicious message discovered inside an IndiGo aircraft's lavatory triggered a mid-air bomb scare on Friday, forcing a Hyderabad-Chennai flight carrying 192 passengers to make an emergency landing at Chennai airport.
The note, written on a tissue paper attached to the lavatory mirror, said "BOOM - 1.50 PM". A member of the airline crew observed the message when the aircraft was flying at around 32,000ft and immediately reported it to the pilot.
The pilot subsequently contacted the Air Traffic Control (ATC) of Chennai airport, informed the authorities about the bomb scare and requested to land on priority.
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In response to the alert, the airport authorities sprang into action, ensured security measures were in place and tracked the movement of the aircraft on arrival. The aircraft had taken off from Hyderabad around noon and had reached Chennai airport by 12.58 pm.
They evacuated all 198 people on board, which included 192 passengers and six crew.
IndiGo Flight Bomb Scare: Aircraft Kept Under Observation Until 2.30 PM
Following the evacuation, bomb disposal experts, security personnel and sniffer dogs were deployed to inspect the aircraft. Security teams also thoroughly checked the passengers' baggage and screened the plane for explosives or suspicious objects.
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The search operation continued for more than an hour. Security personnel kept the aircraft under observation until the time mentioned in the threatening message had passed.
However, no explosive device was found, and no untoward incident was reported until 2.30 pm. Officials subsequently declared the bomb threat a hoax.
Meanwhile, Chennai airport police registered a case and launched an investigation to identify the person who left the threatening message inside the aircraft.