Hijack Threat Note Found Aboard Air India Jet in Kolkata; Passengers Taken Off

A hijack threat note was found in the washroom of a Mumbai-bound Air India flight in Kolkata shortly before takeoff, The Times of India reported ^[1]. The note threatened a hijacking at 11:10 a.m., prompting immediate security protocols, the paper reported ^[1].

All passengers who had boarded were taken off the aircraft, and the plane was moved to an isolation bay, The Hindu reported ^[2]. The Hindustan Times also reported the scare ^[3].

What happens in an isolation bay

An isolation bay is a parking spot set far away from terminals, fuel depots and other aircraft. When a threat is reported, security teams move a plane there so that, if there is a device on board, no one else is put at risk while bomb squads and dogs search the cabin, the cargo hold and the luggage. Passengers and their bags are screened again before anyone is allowed to fly.

No one was reported hurt, and Indian security agencies are investigating ^[1]. Authorities have not said whether anything dangerous was found or who wrote the note.

A pattern of threats

India's airlines have faced waves of threats in recent years. In 2024, hundreds of hoax bomb threats against Indian flights forced diversions and emergency landings within a few weeks, costing airlines heavily and frightening travelers. Most turned out to be false. But every one has to be treated as real until it is proven otherwise, because the one that is not a hoax could cost hundreds of lives.

Air India has extra reason for caution. In June 2025, one of its Boeing 787s crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, killing more than 240 people on board and others on the ground. The airline and the country's aviation authorities have been under intense scrutiny ever since.

Closer to home

The scare comes the same week as an incident on a United Airlines flight from Newark to New Orleans, where a passenger who had been deported from the United States twice is accused of claiming to have a bomb and trying to force his way into the cockpit. The two cases are not connected, but together they are a reminder of how much depends on the crews, screeners and security teams who keep air travel safe.

Why it matters

Threats like this one cost money, time and peace of mind. They also test the systems that protect travelers. The Kolkata crew and security staff appear to have done exactly what they were trained to do: take the threat seriously, get people off the plane and search it. Whoever wrote the note should be found and should face the full force of the law. Making threats against airplanes is not a prank.

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