BENGALURU — A Lucknow-bound IndiGo flight returned to Bengaluru on Saturday evening, November 7, after a handwritten note threatening a hijack was found in an aircraft toilet, and a full emergency was declared at Kempegowda International Airport's Terminal 1, the news agency ANI reported.

Source: ANI via Devdiscourse

IndiGo flight 6E 451 had 178 passengers on board and took off from Bengaluru at about 5.50 pm, The Times of India reported. The note was found about 30 minutes into the Bengaluru–Lucknow flight. Reports differ on who spotted it first: The Times of India said a passenger saw the note in the toilet and alerted the cabin crew, while Hindustan Times and Dainik Bhaskar reported that crew members found it. All the reports agree the message threatened a hijack and that the pilots then turned the aircraft around.

The Hindu reported the wording of the note as: “This flight is going to hijack at 6.30, ignore and see the consequences.” Awaaz Punjab could not independently verify the note's text; it is reproduced here as reported by The Hindu.

Source: The Hindu (as summarised by Ebenezer Digital)

After the aircraft landed back in Bengaluru, airport security personnel and aviation law-enforcement authorities took control of it, isolated it away from other aircraft and carried out thorough anti-sabotage and safety sweeps, ANI reported. Hindustan Times and Dainik Bhaskar also reported the full emergency at Terminal 1 and the isolation and search of the aircraft.

IndiGo confirmed the incident in an official statement shared by ANI: “A security threat was reported onboard IndiGo flight 6E 451, operating from Bengaluru to Lucknow on 07 November 2026. In line with Standard Operating Procedure, the relevant authorities were informed immediately and the pilots decided to return to origin to carry out the necessary security checks, as per protocol.” The airline said it regretted the inconvenience, was offering passengers refreshments and regular updates, and that the flight would resume its journey after receiving the requisite clearances, adding that the safety and security of its customers, crew and aircraft remain its utmost priority. IndiGo's statement did not itself mention a note or a hijack; those details come from the newspaper and agency reports.

An investigation is under way to identify the origin and the author of the threat message, ANI and Hindustan Times reported. The reports read for this story, checked in the early hours of November 8, carried no on-record statement from the police or the airport operator on what the search found, and did not confirm whether a police case had been registered.

Threat notes have disrupted IndiGo flights at Bengaluru before this year. On July 17, a bomb-warning note was found in the front toilet of Bengaluru–Ahmedabad flight 6E-6423 before take-off; the search found nothing and police registered a case on the airline's complaint, PTI reported. On August 26, a bomb threat was passed to the crew of Lucknow–Bengaluru flight 6E231 on final approach; the aircraft landed safely and was searched, IANS reported.