An unclaimed cellphone was found in an aircraft on Monday, causing panic at Mumbai airport.
An unclaimed cellphone was found in an aircraft on Monday, causing panic at Mumbai airport. A passenger spotted the cellphone, and the aircraft, which was taxiing the runway, was called back for security checks. After five hours the flight took off with all the 332 passengers. The unclaimed cellphone was seized by the airline.
According to sources from the Mumbai airport, Turkish Airlines’ flight number TK 721 was scheduled for take-off at 6.50 am.
After finishing the boarding process at 6.40 am, when the aircraft was on the runway, a passenger noticed an unattended iPhone under a seat and informed the cabin crew.
Immediately, the standard operating procedure was followed, and the cockpit crew reported the matter to the Mumbai Air Traffic Control tower that directed the aircraft to head towards a parking bay in a remote area.
After this, all passengers were off-loaded with their cabin baggage and a search operation was launched to check for any other unclaimed things in the aircraft.
Later, the airline seized the cellphone that is now in their lost and found department. At about 11 am on Monday, new boarding passes were issued to the passengers and they were sent to a boarding gate from the transit area. Another security check was conducted for these passengers. The flight finally took off at around 12 pm.
Confirming the incident, a senior officer from Mumbai airport said, “As the airport is already on red alert due to the Pathankot attack and Republic Day nearing, the unattended cellphone created a panic among the security agencies. At the first look we took it as a security threat, but later it was found to be safe. A passenger from the previous leg of the aircraft seems to have forgotten his/her phone under the seat.”
An official from the Airports Authority of India was amused over the incident and said, “Every aircraft goes through checking before boarding and it’s really strange that no one noticed the cellphone. Earlier on November 29, a threat message was scribbled on a note found inside an aircraft and it created panic on the airport.
