Singapore – A Singapore-bound Scoot flight from Bengaluru, India, was delayed for almost 14 hours after a false security report was released.
Flight TR573 was supposed to depart from the south Indian city of Bengaluru at 1:20 am local time on April 23 (Tuesday), but due to a verbal security threat, the flight was tentatively rescheduled for take-off 14 hours later.
“Due to a verbal security threat, a passenger had to be removed from the flight by airport security,” said a Scoot spokesperson.
“All passengers were required to undergo security screening and immigration clearance again, and no suspicious items were found. As a result of the additional security procedures, flight time limits of the operating crew were exceeded,” added the spokesperson.
Netizen Haresh Kumar posted a video showing passengers arguing with an airport staff member. He expressed his concern for the lack of communication on the part of the airlines as his parents and niece were among the affected passengers. They were stranded for hours with little information on the cause of delay.
He wrote: “FlyScoot Passengers of TR573 have been stranded at the Bengaluru International Airport since last night. My Parents and Niece are at the Airport since last night, unable to fly back to Singapore. What’s the Airlines doing? What time is the expected departure from Bengaluru? I’ve already logged in a formal report to your office. This video is taken live from Bengaluru International Airport of passengers frustration at the poor communication from your Airlines.”
https://www.facebook.com/haresh.kumar.58760/videos/10158556859448782/?epa=SEARCH_BOX
A replacement flight from Singapore, TR573D, operated by a different batch of crew members, was sent to transfer the affected passengers from Bengaluru at 3:30 pm (6 pm Singapore time).
The spokesperson said that refreshments were provided to the passengers at the airport during the delay.
According to The Straits Times, the plane was conducting its preparation protocols for take-off when the flight was suddenly cancelled.
Research and development engineer Bharath Kumar Cimbili said that a passenger had a “gun-like structure” in one of the cabin bags.
Faced with a “security issue,” the passengers waited in the plane for three hours before being advised to exit the plane and go through security screening and immigration clearance once more.
“Basically, everyone is restless, angry and frustrated because we all arrived at the airport at 10pm and it has been more than 10 hours in the airport without any refreshments or trusted information about next steps,” shared the passenger.
The second security screening yielded no new discoveries; however, the operating crew had already exceeded their working hours limit, and a replacement flight had to be arranged.
The affected passengers were provided with meals, said the Scoot spokesperson in a following update. The airline representative also clarified that the passengers were provided with announcements on the ground every 30 minutes and that their baggage was not confiscated in the plane and could be transferred to the replacement flight without any problems./TISG