Kolkata: A bomb threat scrawled on a washroom mirror aboard an IndiGo flight from Phuket to Kolkata left 188 passengers stranded on the airport tarmac for more than two hours on Saturday as security agencies searched the aircraft and checked every passenger’s baggage before allowing them into the terminal.The Airbus A320neo, operating as flight 6E1494, landed at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport at 2.05 pm. Shortly after landing, cabin crew spotted the threatening message on a mirror inside an aircraft toilet. Airport officials said security personnel classified it as a specific bomb threat.Passengers were evacuated and taken to four buses meant to ferry them to the terminal. However, the buses remained on the tarmac while the aircraft was moved to an isolation bay for a thorough security sweep. The passengers were eventually allowed into the terminal around 4.45 pm after the checks were completed.The prolonged wait left passengers frustrated, particularly those who needed to use the washroom. With no clarity on how long the security operation would take, even cabin crew members could not tell them when they would be allowed to leave.“We disembarked as usual and boarded buses to go to the terminal. But the buses did not move. After all the passengers had got off the aircraft and boarded four buses, we were made to wait. Each busload of passengers was asked to get down and identify their luggage. We were there for nearly two hours. Many wanted to use the washroom, but we were not allowed to go to the airport terminal,” a passenger said.The incident also disrupted onward travel plans. A couple arriving from Phuket missed their connecting flight to Jaipur. They had to spend the night at a Kolkata hotel and were accommodated on another flight to Jaipur on Sunday morning.A senior airport official said all 188 passengers were required to identify their bags as part of the security protocol. Every piece of baggage was checked before the operation was declared complete.The incident came a day after a separate bomb scare at Kolkata airport. On Friday morning, a handwritten threat on a piece of tissue paper was found inside a toilet near a boarding gate. Security personnel conducted an extensive search of the airport premises, but flight operations were not disrupted.
