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Amid mass cancellations, Hyderabad-bound Indigo flight diverted over bomb threat
Indigo flight 6E 058, going from Saudi Arabia's Medina to Telangana's Hyderabad, made an emergency landing at Ahmedabad airport after an alleged bomb threat
As chaos over mass cancellations continues, Indigo received another scare when one of its Hyderabad-bound flights had to be diverted due to a bomb threat.
Flight 6E 058, going from Saudi Arabia's Medina to Telangana's Hyderabad, made an emergency landing at Ahmedabad airport after an alleged bomb threat.
The flight had 180 passengers and 6 crew members, ANI reported, quoting airport sources.
Zone 4 deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Atul Bansal told news agency PTI that the flight landed safely at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad around 12:30 PM, and all passengers and crew were deboarded to conduct a thorough search of the plane.
“When the flight was on its way to Hyderabad from Madinah, someone sent an email to IndiGo claiming that a bomb had been planted on the aircraft. Since Ahmedabad was the closest airport, the pilot decided to land here as a precautionary measure,” Bansal said.
The official stated that, after being alerted to the bomb threat, local police rushed to the scene to assist the Central Industrial Security Force and the National Disaster Response Force. He added that nothing suspicious was found during the initial search.
Also read: Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru: City-wise list of cancelled IndiGo flights
Indigo mass cancellation chaos
At least 250 IndiGo flights were cancelled on Thursday as chaos continued at major airports across India, with the carrier struggling to adapt to the new, stringent crew rostering rules. On Wednesday, the airline cancelled at least 150 flights and announced that it had initiated “calibrated adjustments” to its schedules for the next 48 hours.
The on-time performance (OTP) of IndiGo, India’s largest airline, dropped to 19.7% on Wednesday from 35% a day earlier, according to civil aviation ministry data.
An official aware of the matter said 33 flights were cancelled from Delhi, 68 from Hyderabad, 85 from Mumbai, and 73 from Bengaluru on Thursday. On Wednesday, at least 67 flights were cancelled at Delhi airport (37 departures and 30 arrivals), 42 at Bengaluru, 40 at Hyderabad (19 departures and 21 arrivals), and 33 at Mumbai (17 departures and 16 arrivals).
