Hijack alert on Kolkata-Mumbai Air India flight turns out to be a hoax

A Mumbai-bound Air India Vistara flight carrying 105 passengers was moved to an isolation bay at Kolkata airport on Wednesday morning, shortly before takeoff, after the crew found a 'hijack alert' written on a toilet mirror, airport officials said.

The alert later turned out to be a hoax, authorities at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport said. The aircraft eventually took off for Mumbai at 5.38pm, the airport confirmed.

The incident took place at around 10.30am. “The pilot of Flight AI 772 was preparing for takeoff when the cabin crew members noticed a hijack alert written on a toilet mirror, possibly with lipstick," an airport police officer said, requesting anonymity.

Following protocol, an alert was sounded immediately, and the plane was moved to the isolation bay. "Security, fire brigade personnel and members of the bomb squad were deployed to search the airport as part of normal procedure. The passengers were taken out of their aircraft," the officer added.

Later in the day, officials said a search of the aircraft had turned up nothing suspicious until 1.30pm. The luggage of the passengers was also checked.

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"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.

In a statement, the 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.”