An IndiGo Mangaluru-Mumbai flight was delayed by over five hours after a female passenger alerted officials about a suspicious text message that she noticed on a fellow passenger’s mobile phone.
The incident took place on Sunday when passengers of flight 6E 5327 from Mangaluru to Mumbai boarded the plane.
As per officials, a female passenger noticed her co-passenger’s phone and panicked after reading the word ‘bomber’ while chatting with his female friend. The woman passenger notice the message ‘you are a bomber’ on the fellow passenger’s mobile phone and alerted the crew.
“Thereafter, she raised an alarm and the aircraft had to be taken to the isolation bay of the airport for further enquiries,” said an airport official.
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There were 185 passengers on board and the passengers were asked to disembark the plane for further checking. In the process, the flight got delayed by over five hours.
“Aviation security was immediately called and the airport police began an investigation with the suspected passenger… and they were asked to disembark and their luggage was thoroughly searched. Only then was the IndiGo aircraft allowed to fly to Mumbai on Sunday evening,” airport security official said.
During the investigation, it was found that “The man was talking to his girlfriend by sending a message on her mobile which was to take a flight from the same airport to Bengaluru. This person was not allowed to board the plane due to interrogation,” the official said.
Security agencies especially at airports are always on high alert around Independence Day. No official complaint was lodged against the male passengers. And later it was declared a false alarm. IndiGo did not comment on the above incident.