Chaos and confusion gripped Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport on Saturday after two separate bomb threats targeting IndiGo flights triggered full-scale security emergencies, forced evacuations and cascading delays that left hundreds of passengers stranded for hours and sent shockwaves through India’s already stretched aviation system.
Morning Bomb Threat Halts Kolkata to Shillong Departure
The drama began on the morning of February 14 when IndiGo flight 6E 7304, scheduled to depart from Kolkata to Shillong around 9:15 a.m., was abruptly halted on the apron after crew members discovered a handwritten bomb threat in the aircraft’s lavatory. The slip of paper warned that an explosive device had been placed on board, immediately activating emergency procedures.
Airport officials said the aircraft, an ATR operating the busy northeastern route, was quickly taxied away from the terminal area and moved to an isolation bay at a remote stand. Passengers who had already boarded were asked to disembark and were escorted to the terminal for additional screening, while ground staff worked to clear the immediate vicinity of non-essential personnel.
Security teams from the airport and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) conducted a cabin sweep and ordered all checked and cabin baggage to be offloaded and re-screened. Bomb detection and disposal squads were dispatched to inspect the aircraft and cargo hold in line with India’s civil aviation security protocols for specific threats, which are considered more serious than routine alerts.
The operation, which unfolded in full view of other departing passengers and aircraft on nearby stands, lasted several hours and effectively removed the aircraft from operation for most of the morning at what is one of eastern India’s most important aviation hubs.
Hoax Confirmed, But Hours-Long Disruption for Passengers
After extensive checks, authorities confirmed that no explosive device had been found on the Kolkata to Shillong flight. The threat was declared a hoax, but only after a delay of around four hours. The aircraft was cleared to resume operations and eventually departed for Shillong early in the afternoon, with passengers and crew re-boarded once security agencies gave the all-clear.
For travelers, however, the confirmation of a false alarm did little to erase the strain of the morning’s ordeal. Passengers described being kept in holding areas and at the gate with limited information as authorities worked through their security checklist, a process that must be completed in full even when a note is suspected to be a prank.
Families heading for connecting trips in the Northeast, business travelers, and tourists alike found their plans thrown into disarray. Some missed onward connections from Shillong and other northeastern airports, while others were forced to rebook same-day itineraries or seek last-minute hotel rooms. Travel agents in Kolkata reported a spike in calls from worried customers trying to rearrange plans or seek clarity on flight status.
IndiGo said it had followed standard operating procedures and that passenger safety remained its highest priority. While the airline began reaccommodating affected travelers where possible, the knock-on effect on schedules in and out of Kolkata and the Northeast was still being felt by mid-afternoon, amplifying frustration among passengers both on the affected flight and on unrelated services sharing the same aircraft and crew rotations.
Second Shock in the Evening: Dibrugarh Flight Drawn into Bomb Scare
As operations at Kolkata airport slowly normalized in the afternoon, a second and even more unsettling twist unfolded. In the evening, IndiGo flight 6E 6894 from Dibrugarh in Assam to Kolkata reported a fresh bomb threat after arrival, once again linked to a message found in the aircraft’s lavatory. This time, officials said, the threat appeared scrawled with red lipstick, adding a disturbing and theatrical element to an already tense situation.
The Airbus A320 landed safely in Kolkata at around 7:37 p.m. local time. In line with the morning incident, the aircraft was immediately directed to an isolation bay well away from the terminal complex. Fire tenders, medical teams, CISF personnel and bomb disposal units were deployed around the aircraft as passengers were asked to remain calm while crews initiated deplaning.
All passengers and crew were safely deboarded and taken by bus to the terminal, where security officials began the process of questioning some travelers and reviewing CCTV footage from boarding gates and cabin areas. Once again, all baggage had to be removed from the aircraft and subjected to enhanced screening, while technical teams began a fresh inspection of the cabin and cargo compartments.
By late evening, authorities reported that no explosive device had been found on the Dibrugarh to Kolkata flight either, suggesting that this second message was also a hoax. Nevertheless, the repeat nature of the incidents within the same day sent a chill through the airport community and raised broader questions about the vulnerability of India’s domestic aviation network to copycat threats.
Hundreds of Passengers Stranded as Delays Mount
The dual bomb scares effectively turned Saturday into a day of rolling disruption at Kolkata airport. With two aircraft pulled into security lockdowns, gates blocked for extended periods and ground handlers diverted to assist security teams, regular operations struggled to keep pace with the afternoon and evening traffic rush.
Travelers waiting for flights to and from northeastern cities such as Shillong, Dibrugarh, Guwahati and Imphal faced growing delays as aircraft rotations were thrown off schedule. Passengers arriving on delayed flights often missed their onward domestic connections, and airline counters were crowded with people seeking rebooking options or clarification on whether their flights would operate at all.
Inside the terminal, food courts and seating areas filled with stranded travelers scrolling through their phones for updates from airlines and news outlets. Some passengers reported waiting several hours beyond their scheduled departure times, while others described long queues at customer service desks and a lack of clear announcements over the public address system.
Although other airlines were not directly involved in the bomb threats, many of their flights were affected by the knock-on impact. When isolation bays are in use and parts of the apron are cordoned off, taxi times can increase, new security sweeps may be ordered, and slot availability can tighten sharply, especially in the evening peak. For a hub that connects much of eastern and northeastern India, even a small disruption can quickly escalate into a system-wide snarl.
Security Protocols at Full Stretch, Yet Under Scrutiny
From an aviation security perspective, the events in Kolkata will likely be cited as a textbook example of an appropriate defensive response to a perceived threat. Once a note inside an aircraft explicitly mentions a bomb, international civil aviation rules leave little room for compromise. Authorities are obliged to treat such messages as credible until proven otherwise, regardless of whether they appear juvenile or hastily written.
Moving the aircraft to an isolation bay, evacuating passengers, offloading and rescreening all baggage, and deploying bomb detection squads are all standard procedures that must be followed to the letter. Officials repeatedly emphasized that these steps are designed to protect both the individuals on board and everyone in the wider airport environment, including other aircraft and infrastructure.
Yet even as security experts defended the protocols, the back-to-back hoaxes have prompted calls for a review of how quickly threat assessments can be made and whether there are ways to reduce disruption without compromising safety. Investigators will study how long it took from discovery of the notes to the final all-clear, what communication channels were used, and whether coordination between airlines, ground handlers and security agencies can be streamlined further.
Passenger advocacy groups are also likely to press for more transparent communication and better care standards during extended security disruptions, including meal vouchers, clearer updates and designated assistance points in the terminal for vulnerable travelers such as the elderly, unaccompanied minors and those with medical needs.
Investigators Hunt for Culprits Behind Threat Notes
With both incidents now classified as hoaxes, attention has turned to the difficult task of identifying who wrote and placed the bomb threats on board the two IndiGo flights. Investigators from security agencies and the airline are combing through boarding data, passenger manifests and CCTV recordings from gates and jet bridges, looking for individuals who may have spent unusual amounts of time in the lavatories before or during boarding.
The challenge, security officials admit, lies in the fact that aircraft lavatories are not covered by surveillance cameras for privacy reasons. That leaves investigators dependent on indirect evidence such as the timing of lavatory use, witness statements from cabin crew, and forensic analysis of the paper or lipstick used for the messages. In some past cases, handwriting comparisons or fingerprints have helped narrow down suspects, but this is far from guaranteed.
If and when a suspect is identified, they could face a range of criminal charges under Indian law, including making hoax threats, endangering public safety, and disrupting public services. Legal experts note that penalties can include substantial fines and imprisonment, particularly in cases where the hoax triggers large-scale security operations and financial losses for airlines and airports.
Airlines and security agencies hope that a high-profile arrest and prosecution would act as a deterrent at a time when hoax messages, particularly those involving aviation, have seen periodic spikes in India and around the world. The repeat nature of Saturday’s incidents may increase pressure on authorities to move quickly and send a strong signal that such actions carry serious consequences.
Wider Impact on India’s Northeast Aviation Corridor
The disruptions in Kolkata resonate far beyond a single airport because the city serves as the principal gateway to India’s northeastern states. Routes linking Kolkata with Shillong, Dibrugarh, Guwahati and smaller airports act as essential lifelines for tourism, trade and local mobility in a region where overland travel can be slow and weather dependent.
Saturday’s bomb scares temporarily choked one of the main arteries of that network. Passengers traveling to hill destinations in Meghalaya, business hubs in Assam, and even onward to border areas near Bhutan and Bangladesh found themselves trapped in limbo, forced to either wait out delays or attempt complex reroutings via other Indian hubs such as Delhi or Guwahati.
Tour operators reported that some visitors heading into Meghalaya’s popular trekking and caving regions had to postpone or shorten itineraries. Corporate travelers connecting to smaller northeastern cities from international flights into Kolkata faced particularly acute challenges, as missed domestic legs can cascade into multi-day delays in areas with limited flight frequencies.
For IndiGo, which has invested heavily in building a dense domestic network across the Northeast, keeping customer confidence high will be crucial. The airline is likely to highlight that all passengers were kept safe and that its crews responded swiftly and professionally. Yet the psychological effect of consecutive bomb threats on routes into and out of the region may weigh on some travelers in the short term, even if the incidents are officially labeled as hoaxes.
Passengers Weigh Safety Against Growing Travel Fatigue
Saturday’s events in Kolkata underline a delicate balance at the heart of modern air travel. On the one hand, passengers consistently tell airlines and regulators that they want the highest possible safety standards, especially when it comes to security threats. On the other, the increasing frequency of hoax calls and prank messages is contributing to a sense of travel fatigue among flyers who bear the brunt of delays, missed connections and abrupt schedule changes.
Many travelers stranded at Kolkata airport expressed mixed feelings. Several acknowledged that they were reassured to see such a robust response to a potential threat, even if it meant hours of inconvenience. Others voiced irritation at what they saw as the selfishness of whoever wrote the notes, pointing out that hundreds of people lost time, money and peace of mind as a result of a few scribbled words.
For regular fliers, particularly those who rely on domestic routes linking major cities to regional hubs, Saturday’s bomb scares may blend into a wider narrative of mounting stress in Indian aviation: crowded terminals, narrow turnarounds, sporadic weather-related disruptions and now, disruptive false alarms. Aviation analysts warn that the industry will need to find ways to maintain rigorous security while improving resilience, so that hoaxes do not repeatedly bring major hubs to a standstill.
As Kolkata’s runways and terminals returned to a semblance of normality late Saturday night, the lingering impact of the hoax threats was measurable not just in delayed departures and missed connections, but in shaken traveler confidence. For passengers, airlines and airport authorities alike, the day served as a stark reminder of how a few lines of text scrawled in an aircraft toilet can ripple outward into hours of uncertainty, crowded terminals and frayed tempers across an entire regional travel corridor.