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Aussie family misses flight after passports go missing at Bengaluru airport: Report

An Australian family's passports and other belongings were lost for an hour and a half after security check at the Bengaluru airport, causing them to miss their flight.

Published on: Feb 4, 2023, 16:14:56 IST
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An Australian family were forced to drop their plans of going back home after their passports and phones were lost in the pre-departure security check at the Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport (KIA).

The family were supposed to fly to Australia on January 22, but had to buy new tickets for a flight on January 26, which cost them an additional  ₹6.6 lakh. (Ravi Choudhary/HT Photo/Pic for representation)
The family were supposed to fly to Australia on January 22, but had to buy new tickets for a flight on January 26, which cost them an additional ₹6.6 lakh. (Ravi Choudhary/HT Photo/Pic for representation)

The family have been identified as Dr Ramesh Nayak, his wife and their two children, The Times of India reported. They had flown to India to visit their family in Karnataka's Mangaluru and Tumakuru after a four-year gap.

They were supposed to fly back to Australia on January 22 on a SriLankan Airlines flight, which flies to Melbourne via Colombo. However, the delay caused after their passports went missing resulted in them missing their flight. The family had to buy new tickets for a flight on January 26, which cost them an additional 6.6 lakh.

The Nayak family had reportedly kept all of their passports, a wallet and mobile phone in a tray, which went missing during security check by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at the Bengaluru airport. CISF officials found the missing passports an hour and half later and said they “got stuck” after scanning, by which time, their flight had taken off.

Another passenger had placed an empty tray on top of the one that had the Nayak family's belongings, which caused the chaos, officials from the CISF told the publication. The family said they intend to take CISF to court as they caused financial loss and hardship to them.

Dr Nayak said CISF staff were “very callous” in attending to their situation. “Without any sense of responsibility or remorse, the CISF officials casually told us to leave the area as we had got our belongings,” he told the publication. The family flew to Australia on January 26.

  • Yamini C S
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Yamini C S

    Yamini CS is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times with nearly six years of experience in digital journalism. She is part of the India News desk, where she works on a wide range of stories cutting across civic issues, city-based developments, politics, governance, public policy, breaking news, trending topics, and international affairs that have an impact on India. Her role involves tracking fast-moving developments, verifying information from official and on-ground sources, and presenting news in a clear, accessible format for a digital-first audience. A significant part of her work includes handling live blogs during major news events, such as elections, court verdicts, political developments, civic disruptions, protests, weather-related alerts, and unfolding national or international incidents. Through live coverage, she focuses on timely updates to help readers follow complex stories as they evolve. Before moving to the broader India News desk, Yamini was associated with the Bengaluru desk at Hindustan Times, where she extensively covered urban governance, infrastructure, traffic and transport issues, weather events, public grievances, and civic administration in the city. This experience strengthened her grounding in city reporting and sharpened her focus on citizen-centric journalism. She began her career as a correspondent with Reuters after completing a postgraduate diploma in journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media. Her early training instilled a strong emphasis on accuracy, sourcing, and news ethics, which continue to shape her reporting style. Outside of work, Yamini enjoys reading across genres, listening to music, and spending time with her family, which help her maintain balance in a fast-paced newsroom environment.Read More

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