Hijack threat note forces IndiGo Lucknow flight back to Bengaluru; declared a hoax

An IndiGo flight from Bengaluru to Lucknow turned back on Saturday evening, 7 November, after a handwritten note threatening a hijack was found in its lavatory. The aircraft, carrying 178 passengers, landed safely at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), and security agencies later declared the threat a hoax.

Flight 6E-451 left Terminal 1 at about 5.50 p.m. Around 30 minutes into the flight, a passenger found the note, which warned that the flight would be hijacked “at 6.30” and told the reader to ignore it and “see the consequences”. The crew informed the captain, who contacted air traffic control and was given priority clearance to return.

The airport declared a full emergency as a precaution. After landing, the aircraft was taken to an isolated bay, where the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Bengaluru police cordoned it off and searched it. Nothing suspicious was found, according to sources at Bangalore International Airport Ltd, which runs KIA.

The bigger picture

Hoax threats have become a costly problem for Indian airlines. Each one means an emergency landing or diversion, a full security sweep and hours of delay for hundreds of passengers. In October 2024, airlines received hundreds of hoax bomb threats in a matter of weeks. Last month, another lavatory note on an IndiGo flight at Bengaluru led to two passengers being detained and released on station bail after questioning.

Making a hoax threat is a criminal offence, and people found responsible can be barred from flying.

What’s next

Police and the airline are trying to identify who left the note. IndiGo had not commented in detail by the time of the reports.