A hijack threat note discovered in the washroom of an Air India flight bound for Mumbai on Wednesday morning triggered an immediate security response at Kolkata airport, prompting officials to shift the aircraft to an isolation bay before take-off. The flight was scheduled to depart at 10.20 am, news agency PTI reported. According to Kolkata airport director Vikram Singh, the note was found shortly before departure and warned that the aircraft would be hijacked at 11.10 am.
Following the discovery, all passengers who had boarded the aircraft were deboarded, and the plane was moved to an isolation bay for security checks. Officials immediately activated the prescribed security protocols and initiated a thorough inspection of the aircraft. In an official statement, Kolkata airport said, “At 1037 hrs today, a hijack note was found by the cabin crew inside the lavatory of Air India flight AI 2772 (A320, registration VT-TNH), operating on the Kolkata (CCU) – Mumbai (BOM) sector at NSCBI Airport, Kolkata. Necessary checks are currently underway by the concerned agencies as per established protocols.”
Later in the day, officials said that a thorough search of the aircraft had revealed nothing suspicious until 1.30 pm. The passengers' luggage was also checked as part of the security procedures. "In cases such as these, passengers are questioned about their movements before and after boarding a plane and asked to describe anything they might have found suspicious," an airport official said.
The aircraft was later shifted to an isolation bay, where the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), along with specialised airport security teams, carried out an extensive search operation. Security personnel are inspecting every section of the plane to ensure that no suspicious objects are present. Meanwhile, police and other security agencies have launched an investigation to identify the person who wrote the threatening note and establish who may be responsible for the incident.
