Threat note found onboard Jet flight causes panic, delays flight

A hand-scribbled note found on the safety manual of a Jet Airways aircraft, which threatened that the plane would be blown off, caused panic onboard the flight as well as the city airport, from where it was about to leave. Around 166 passengers, including crew members, aboard the Kuwait-bound flight had a harrowing time on discovery of the note, resulting in the plane returning to its bay after it had started to taxi for take-off . The incident happened on Saturday around 10.15pm when a passenger found the note inside the safety manual and immediately informed the cabin crew. The crew then alerted the pilot who decided to return to bay.

A Jet Airways spokesperson said all 159 passengers and seven crew members disembarked without incident and were taken to the airport terminal. "After a thorough search by security agencies, the aircraft was cleared for onward journey," the spokesperson added. Airport sources said after the flight was brought back around 10.25pm, all passengers and crew members were frisked by the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad of the CISF. The cargo and baggage belonging to them too was checked for explosives. After more than four hours of this, the message was declared as a hoax and the flight was allowed to leave for its destination, around 4.20am.
The incident comes in the backdrop of the severe security threat that vital installations in the country, including the highly sensitive airports in Mumbai and Delhi, face.

As per the records, the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) has been receiving similar bomb threats regularly, all of which have been hoaxes. According to the threat assessment team at the airport, which consists of representatives from all security agencies monitoring the airport, a standard operating procedure is followed before declaring a threat call a hoax.