An IndiGo aircraft underwent an emergency evacuation in India this morning, following a bomb threat. While everyone evacuated safely, I think some IndiGo crew members may need a refresher when it comes to the correct evacuation procedures…
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IndiGo aircraft evacuated due to bomb threat
This incident happened today (Tuesday, May 28, 2024), and involves IndiGo flight 6E2211, scheduled to operate the 5AM service from Delhi (DEL) to Varanasi (VNS). The aircraft in question was a 16-year-old Airbus A320 with the registration code 9H-SLD.
According to police, just prior to takeoff, a note was found in the aircraft’s lavatory, with “[email protected]” written on it. As a result, the decision was made to taxi the aircraft to a remote part of the airport, and evacuate via emergency slides. A search of the aircraft later found no credible threat. The flight ended up operating, but with a delay of over six hours.
Here’s how IndiGo described this incident in a statement:
“IndiGo flight 6E2211 operating from Delhi to Varanasi had received a specific bomb threat at Delhi airport at 5.35 am. All necessary protocols were followed and aircraft was taken to a remote bay as per guidelines by airport security agencies. All passengers were safely evacuated via the emergency exits. The flight is currently undergoing inspection. Post completion of all security checks, the aircraft will be positioned back in the terminal area.”
I know airlines have to follow certain procedures, but I can’t help but think that evacuating an aircraft via slides simply because a non-specific note was found in the lavatory increases overall risk, in terms of the potential for injury.
The IndiGo crew’s mixed performance
As you’d expect, in the event of an emergency evacuation, it’s the crew’s job to assist passengers, and to lead by example. Unfortunately the crew’s evacuation behavior can be described as a mixed bag at best. On the one hand, you see one crew member assisting passengers with limited mobility to get on the slide from over the wing. Well done to her.
On the other hand, you see multiple crew members not leaving their carry-on items behind as they evacuate. It doesn’t matter what airline you fly, the evacuation policies are the same — in an emergency evacuation, leave all carry-on items behind. Period.
Now, most of the time when we see planes evacuate, a certain percentage of passengers ignore those instructions, and still take their carry-ons. That’s a shame, because it can delay the evacuation, and lead to injuries for other passengers.
Unfortunately in this case, multiple crew members didn’t follow the correct policies. For example, one of the flight attendants evacuated with her full size carry-on, while one of the pilots evacuated with a smaller bag.
While the airline claims that “all necessary protocols were followed,” obviously that’s not totally the case. If the crew doesn’t even follow the correct evacuation procedures, how can passengers be expected to?
Bottom line
An IndiGo Airbus A320 had an emergency evacuation this morning, after a bomb threat was discovered in the lavatory. All the passengers had to evacuate via emergency slides, and no credible threat was found. What’s most disappointing here is how the crew didn’t even follow correct evacuation procedures regarding leaving carry-on items behind.
What do you make of this IndiGo bomb threat and evacuation?
disorganized at best. At least there was no real emergency.
How I wish I had been the person to find that piece of paper in the lav. I would have torn it into small pieces and flushed it down the toilet. And off we go!
The last time I was on an IndiGo flight, there were people standing up, walking about the cabin as we landed and the FAs said nothing!
It says that the same plane ultimately performed the flight with 6 hours delay.
Seriously, can they replace the evacuation slides within that time? I almost doubt.
Unfortunately, lining up to enter or exit any thing in India is at best chaotic. Indians are notorious for pushing those ahead of them in a line in order to speed things along. For all that, I would say this is probably much more of a calm evacuation than what I had expected.
I'm also tired of the whole attitude making fun or shaming people who evacuate with their hand luggage. I understand the reason...
Unfortunately, lining up to enter or exit any thing in India is at best chaotic. Indians are notorious for pushing those ahead of them in a line in order to speed things along. For all that, I would say this is probably much more of a calm evacuation than what I had expected.
I'm also tired of the whole attitude making fun or shaming people who evacuate with their hand luggage. I understand the reason why one should leave their bags, but any given individual may have something inside their bag that they consider more valuable than a stranger's life. It's harsh to say this, but it's true.
So we should show understanding to those who choose to take their "valuable" luggage at the expense of someone's life? Like the Aeroflot flight 1492 where more people could have been saved if it wasn't for the selfish people in business class trying to save their carry-ons?
Maybe it's ok to act like that in India where the population is over a billion but not in civilised countries.
I never said it's "ok" to grab your hand bags before jumping out of an airplane evacuation. It's obviously in the best interest of everyone that you leave your bag. I was just trying to explain the thought process behind why someone might do that during a panicked, emergency situation.
It's easy for all of us to sit in our comfortable chair hammering away on a keyboard criticizing and shaming people who do this. The...
I never said it's "ok" to grab your hand bags before jumping out of an airplane evacuation. It's obviously in the best interest of everyone that you leave your bag. I was just trying to explain the thought process behind why someone might do that during a panicked, emergency situation.
It's easy for all of us to sit in our comfortable chair hammering away on a keyboard criticizing and shaming people who do this. The reality is that none of us will never know what we would do unless faced with the exact same situation. Instinct is a powerful force. We would clearly never shame a mother for unstrapping her baby from the bassinet before evacuation. Similarly, we should probably excuse someone for taking a moment to grab their pet from the overhead bin. It's not a stretch to then assume that there may be something of value in a person's carryon equal to or even greater than a pet.
Most of the people on this site, like yourself, are soft and unchallenged in life. You rarely have to even get out of your house to work or feed yourself. As you said, India has over a billion people and therefore the competition to live and succeed is intense. Perhaps you should try understanding that perhaps the "carryon" that you claim you would readily leave behind, is something that person has worked their entire life for.
BTW, India is far more "civilized" than whatever EuroTrash country from which you hail. You are and will always be the USA's bitch. Enjoy your racist life.
India will see a lot more of this as more people have access to commercial aviation.
Will see a lot more of what? More fake bomb threats? More evacuations?
Will see a lot more of people like you.
I bet the one who left that note validated one's self stupidity with questions like yours.
You need to cut down on drinking so much. Or at least stop posting when inebriated.
Anyone who tries to retrieve baggage during an evacuation deserves a lifetime ban - and should also be locked up for a while.
Worth pointing it out that this particular aircraft is wet-leased by IndiGo.
So it actually is the wet-leased crew that requires a refresher course.
6E is forced to wet-lease capacity due to the groundings of A320neo equipped with P&W engines.
How did all those passengers who require wheelchairs to disembark get off the plane?
At least they didn't shilly-shally about like BA 158 bomb threat in Bermuda.
You'd think aircraft could be designed so that all the overhead storage is automatically locked during take off and landing. Then if you need to evacuate, it prevents anyone from causing delays by opening the bins for their luggage.
Knowing how bad people can be, if they lock the overheard storage, I can already see one person blocking the aisle try to open the locked overhead storage...
you'd need locks and wiring for every bin. that's a lot of effort for very rare emergency evacs
Evacuation itself is ridiculous in this scenario. This is not a slide in a playground. I've had the chance to do it on a simulator and it's rough. In real life, where people land on tarmac it inevitably leads to injuries. In the presence of no immediate threat it just doesn't make sense to trigger an evacuation. Disembarking via stairs would be the appropriate reaction.
Slide evacuation seems to be the fastest way to get people off the plane. You can imagine the chaos that would ensue, especially in India, if the rear passengers had to wait for the front passengers to deplane in the middle of a "bomb threat". It's overkill in hindsight for sure, but at that moment, without knowing the truth of the situation, I guarantee you'd be pushing granny off the slide to save yourself.
Flight attendants at all airlines should be trained to grab peoples carry-ons and throw them back over the seats so they cannot be taken off the planes in cases of emergency evacuations.
While you're at it, they should also take MMA lessons just in case the passenger fights back. And I quote the infamous Nicki Minaj, "they took my bags without consent".
Honestly, I wish they would arrest these people who have their carryons with them. They are jeopardizing everyone behind them!
When you write a note to remind yourself to be in Bombay on May 30th, and it falls out of your pocket during your pre-flight piss
wouldn't they write it as 30-5 ?
Aha, evidence that the note-writer was American.
Ha. Came here to post this joke. But I assume everyone in India calls it Mumbai at this point.
Nope. One of my best friends was born, raised and still resides in Mumbai/Bombay. She refers to it as Bombay. She says it will always be Bombay to her. I believe she said that amongst her Indian family and friends they are split on what they call it but those splits are basically amongst age lines.
I was born in Bombay. That's what my birth certificate says and you can't change history. Today, the city is Mumbai. Once again, you can't change reality.
The two names can co-exist, but the folks that deny the legitimacy of one or the other are the ones with a problem.
BOM is still the airport code though