Text message on fellow passenger’s phone spooks IndiGo traveller, delays flight

The flight had 185 passengers on board and was supposed to take off for Mumbai around 10.45 am, but eventually departed around 6.15 pm

An IndiGo flight was on Sunday delayed for over five hours after a female passenger alerted officials about a suspicious text message that she read on the fellow passenger’s phone.

An aircraft of India's largest passenger carrier IndiGo. (File Photo)

The incident took place when passengers of flight 6E 5327 from Mangalore to Mumbai boarded the aircraft.

“A female passenger glanced at her co-passenger’s phone and panicked after reading the word ‘bomber’ while chatting with his female friend who was taking a flight to Bangalore from the same airport. It was then that she raised an alarm and the aircraft had to be taken to the isolation bay of the airport for further enquiries,” a Mangalore airport official said.

IndiGo did not comment on the matter.

The flight had 185 passengers on board and was supposed to take off for Mumbai around 10.45 am, but eventually departed around 6.15 pm.

“The woman alerted the crew, who subsequently informed the pilot. The pilot, as per protocol, informed the air traffic control and the aircraft had to be taken to the isolation bay for further checks,” the official said.

As a protocol, the airline disembarked the passengers, after which they were frisked and their luggage bags were checked thoroughly before they could board again. The male passenger was, however, de-boarded among the chaos. His friend too could not take her flight, airport officials said.

No complaint was filed against the man, they said.