Air India flight delayed after hoax hijack note found in washroom

A male passenger from Murshidabad was caught and handed over to the airport police after a fake hijack threat on an Air India flight from Kolkata to Mumbai. The incident involved Air India flight AI 2772, an Airbus A320 with registration VT-TNH, which was scheduled to leave on Wednesday morning.

Threat Discovered

A cabin crew member found a handwritten note inside the plane washroom around 10.37 a.m. warning that the plane would be hijacked at 11.10 a.m. The crew informed the air traffic control right away, and security teams started mandatory safety checks. Officials stated that the suspect admitted to writing the note, and his handwriting matched the threat message.

Passengers Safe

All 105 passengers and seven crew members were safely taken off the plane. The aircraft was shifted to an isolation bay so security personnel could thoroughly search it. The flight originally planned to depart at 10.30 a.m. finally took off for Mumbai at 5.38 p.m. after authorities finished all checks and declared the threat a hoax.

Context

False bomb and hijack threats on commercial flights trigger strict mandatory safety protocols under civil aviation rules, leading to major delays and heavy security deployment. Airports and airlines treat every written warning seriously until thorough physical checks prove otherwise. Similar hoax notes have caused disruptions on other Indian carrier flights in recent weeks.