An IndiGo flight from Chennai to Goa was delayed by nearly five hours on Monday after a bomb threat prompted security agencies to move the aircraft to an isolation bay, deboard all passengers and conduct prescribed safety checks.
Flight 6E588 was scheduled to depart at 5.40pm. The Bomb Threat Assessment Committee classified the threat as specific at 6.05pm, following which the aircraft was moved to the designated isolation bay at the airport.
All passengers had been deboarded by 6.55pm, according to the report. Security personnel then carried out the prescribed checks, including an anti-sabotage inspection of the aircraft.
The response involved a controlled change in airport operations rather than an immediate return to service. Moving the aircraft to an isolation bay allowed security agencies to conduct the checks separately while keeping the aircraft away from regular passenger and flight-handling activity.
The bomb-threat response was called off at 9.20pm after the searches were completed. The aircraft was then handed back to IndiGo, allowing the airline to prepare the flight for departure.
The incident affected the scheduled movement of passengers travelling between Chennai and Goa, although the report did not provide the number of passengers on board or details of the threat. It also did not specify whether any person had been detained or whether an investigation into the origin of the threat had been completed.
Flight 6E588 eventually departed for Goa at 10.30pm, after the security procedures had been completed and the aircraft had been returned to the airline.
