• Tuesday, March 19, 2024

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Indian flight gets delayed by 6 hours, thanks to fun WhatsApp chat between two friends

An Indigo flight (Photo: SAM PANTHAKY/AFP via Getty Images)

By: Shubham Ghosh

We have read and heard news about hoax calls delaying flights but not often have we seen a flight getting delayed because of a fun chat between two friends over WhatsApp.

Yes, the bizarre incident recently happened at the international airport in Mangaluru, a coastal city located in the southern Indian state of Karnataka, on Sunday (14) where a flight headed for Mumbai got delayed by six hours because of the chat.

How?

It all happened after a passenger on board the flight noticed a suspicious message on the phone of a fellow passenger while he was chatting with a female friend from the flight. The worried passenger immediately brought it to the notice of the flight’s cabin crew who then deboarded all the passengers and the entire flight was checked for possible sabotage.

The woman with whom the man was chatting over mobile phone was also seated at the same airport, waiting for her flight to Bengaluru. The duo spoke about the security for fun and the passenger who reported the matter to the crew saw his co-passenger receiving a text message saying “U r da bomber”.

The police later briefed the media, saying, “Two friends were chatting on WhatsApp and another person had overseen the message where he saw some issue which led to panic. The indigo flight from Mangaluru to Mumbai was stalled. A complaint has been lodged under 505 1B and C of IPC at Bajpe police limits after a complaint of indigo flight authorities.”

While the man was not allowed to board the flight as he was grilled for several hours following the incident, his friend also ended up missing her flight.

All 185 passengers of the plane which was emptied for security reasons were later reboarded following a thorough checking of the baggage. It took off at 5 pm local time, six hours later than his scheduled time of departure.

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