Mid-air panic hit the Delhi-Bagdogra corridor yesterday morning, Sunday, January 18, 2026, when a handwritten note sent a flight full of people into an emergency landing in Lucknow.1
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The thing is, it wasn’t a call or an email. Or nothing. Let’s be real—it was a scrawled message on a piece of tissue paper found in the aircraft’s rear lavatory. “Plane mein bomb.” Those too. The pilot didn’t waste a second, and by 9:17 AM, the Airbus A321neo was sitting in a remote isolation bay at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport.2
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The “Isolation Bay” Log: Field Notes
It’s an ongoing situation where the ground reality was a lot more intense than the headlines.
The Quick Turn: Flight 6E-6650 took off from Delhi at 7:46 AM.3 The thing is, ATC got the alert at 8:46 AM.4 In just 31 minutes, the pilots had that bird on the ground in Lucknow. And here’s the kicker—there were 222 passengers on board, including 8 infants.5
The “Radioactive” Twist: During the sweep, security found a package in the cargo hold marked as radioactive.6 The thing is, it wasn’t a bomb. It was a authorized shipment of cancer medication being transported with a valid NOC.7 Panic for nothing.
The Hoax Confirmation: After hours of combing the cabin with bomb squads and sniffer dogs, the threat was declared a hoax.8 The thing is, the flight finally got the green light and took off for Bagdogra at 4:30 PM.9 Those too.
The Legal Hammer: Lucknow police have already lodged an FIR.10 It’s an ongoing situation where they’re likely checking fingerprint data and lavatory access logs to find who wrote that note. The person is looking at a massive fine and a spot on the “No-Fly List” for life.
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Flight 6E-6650: Emergency Timeline
| Event | Time (Jan 18, 2026) | Status |
| Departure (Delhi) | 07:46 AM | Standard Takeoff |
| Threat Detected | 08:46 AM | Note found in rear toilet |
| Emergency Landing | 09:17 AM | Parked in Isolation Bay |
| Evacuation | 09:30 AM | All 230 people safe |
| Hoax Confirmed | 02:30 PM | Thorough sweep complete |
| Final Departure | 04:30 PM | Resumed to Bagdogra |
And Here’s the Kicker…
This is the second major hoax for IndiGo this week—another flight from Kuwait was diverted to Mumbai just days ago.11 The thing is, with Republic Day coming up on the 26th, security agencies are on a hair-trigger. Or nothing. Every tissue paper note is being treated like a Tier-1 emergency.
It’s an ongoing situation where the passenger who wrote that note has basically cost the airline lakhs in fuel and landing fees. The thing is, if they’re caught, the “joke” is going to end in a jail cell. Stay tuned.
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End…
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