11 IndiGo flights delayed after threat call

Eleven IndiGo flights were delayed on Wednesday after the airline received threat call from a man claiming to be from the United States.

The caller who identified himself as ‘Smith’ said at least 11 IndiGo flights could be the target of a woman flier. The call was made to the airline’s call centre in Chennai at 11:13 am and anti-sabotage checks were immediately conducted after that. The threat was for flights from airports like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Srinagar, Vadodara, Guwahati, Goa and Kochi.  In a statement, IndiGo said, “all our passengers are safe.”

“The caller said that the woman flier who has links with Pakistani spy agency ISI, was carrying a bomb and could blow up one of the aircraft,” officials said. The caller also claimed that the targeted flight could be either ready for take off or had already departed from nine airports.

Soon after the airline received the call, the security establishment was informed about the threat. On Tuesday, five Jet Airways flights had to be grounded following similar threat calls. Security agencies said extensive searches were carried out on planes across nine airports but no explosives were found till Wednesday evening. The 11 flights mentioned by the caller are Vadodara-Delhi (6E 591), Kochi-Delhi (516), Delhi-Srinagar (853), Delhi-Chennai (443), Ahmedabad-Kolkata (135), Delhi-Mumbai (223), Chennai-Mumbai (612), Delhi-Goa (329), Guwahati-Delhi (571), Delhi-Ahmedabad (161) and Delhi-Vadodara (734).