'You are a bomber': Passenger chat causes over 5 hour delay in Indian airline take-off

An IndiGo Mangalore -Mumbai flight number 6E-5237 which was scheduled to depart on 14th August morning at 10:44 am got delayed by over five hours after a woman passenger informed IndiGo crew members about a suspicious message on the mobile phone of a co-passenger.

The woman passenger notice the message 'you are a bomber' on the fellow passenger's mobile phone and alerted the crew.

"A female passenger saw a message on the mobile phone of a person on board the plane and informed the airline's crew. The crew reported this to the air traffic controller (ATC) and the aircraft had to be grounded as it was ready to take off," an airport official told ANI.

"Aviation security was immediately called and the airport police began an investigation with the suspected passenger... and they were asked to disembark and their luggage was thoroughly searched. Only then was the IndiGo aircraft allowed to fly to Mumbai on Sunday evening," airport sources told ANI.

During the investigation, it was found that "The man was messaging his girlfriend, who was to take a flight from the same airport to Bengaluru. This person was not allowed to board the plane due to the interrogation," the sources said.

Security agencies especially at airports are always on high alert around Independence Day. No official complaint was lodged against the male passenger. It was declared a false alarm.

IndiGo did not comment on the incident.

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