The plane had been preparing for take-off on the runway, but was abruptly terminated after a passenger reported a “gun-like structure” in one of the cabin bags.
A false alarm from a security threat on Tuesday caused a Scoot flight to be delayed for hours overnight, leaving passengers in the dark with little updates.
The Singapore-bound TR573 was scheduled to depart early Tuesday morning from the south Indian city of Bengaluru, but had been tentatively rescheduled to take off about 14 hours later at 3.30pm.
Frustrated passengers, including families with young children and those with connecting flights in Singapore, said that they were left with little information for hours, Straits Times reported.
The plane had been preparing for take-off on the runway, but was abruptly terminated after a passenger reported a “gun-like structure” in one of the cabin bags.
Passengers were told there was a “security issue” and made to wait in the plane for about three hours. They were then instructed to disembark and proceed through security screening and immigration clearance again.
A passenger had to be removed from the flight by airport security due to a verbal security threat, a Scoot spokesperson said in response to queries.
No suspicious items were found after passengers were screened. But the delay resulting from the additional security procedures meant that the flight time limits of the operating crew had been exceeded.
Scoot said that it is arranging for a replacement flight from Singapore for affected passengers scheduled to depart at Bengaluru at 3.30pm local time on Tuesday (6pm Singapore time), depending on overflight permit approvals.
Meanwhile, passengers were served breakfast a 7am local time, followed by lunch. Those with young children and infants were provided with lounge access from 9.30am local time, the spokesperson said.
Affected passengers could receive updates on flight status and arrangements on Scoot’s online Flight Status Platform and through announcements on the ground every half an hour.