Lucknow, June 12: Moments before the takeoff of an IndiGo Airlines flight from Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport in Lucknow, a message was received that a bomb had been planted.
As the IndiGo flight was preparing to move towards the runway, the airport’s airline control room received an anonymous threat message that a bomb had been planted on the plane. The pilot and ATS (Air Traffic Control) officials immediately took this seriously and immediately stopped the flight.
As soon as the bomb threat card was found, the airport authorities and security agencies were immediately informed. The security personnel conducted a comprehensive check of the entire plane as per the set safety regulations.
A high alert was declared at the airport after the bomb threat call was received. The aircraft was immediately taken to a secure ‘isolation bay’ away from the runway. All passengers and crew on board were safely deplaned through emergency exits.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), airport security personnel and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDS) along with a trained dog squad thoroughly searched the interior, engine and all the passengers’ luggage. However, no suspicious object was found. The entire aircraft had to be subjected to a complete re-check for security reasons, causing passengers who were supposed to fly to Delhi to wait for hours at the airport.
In recent times, such hoax bomb threat calls have been increasing for Indian flights, and Lucknow Cyber Crime and local police have launched a thorough investigation to find out who is behind these calls and where the message came from.