The pilot of a Scoot flight bound for Singapore from Bangkok made the decision to turn his plane back because of an unclaimed cabin bag found on board.

The flight, TR607, had taken off on the two-and-a-half-hour journey from Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport at 11:55am Bangkok time on Wednesday (Jan. 30), and turned back one hour into the flight, landing at around 2:10pm Bangkok time (an hour behind Singapore).

This is according to a statement issued by the Singaporean budget carrier, shared with Mothership.

The 131 passengers on board were deplaned and passed through security scans, and would only end up back on the plane with a new set of crew departing Bangkok at 7:49pm local time, some eight hours after the flight's original departure time.

Airport ground handling agent found a bag, passed it to crew

According to Scoot's statement, preliminary investigations determined that a ground handling agent at the airport had found the unattended bag and passed it to the flight's crew, thinking it belonged to one of the flight's passengers.

In a breach of security protocol, Scoot said the crew accepted the bag but were unable to find its owner among the passengers on the plane.

And it was only until after the flight had left Bangkok that the pilot was informed about the orphan bag.

In the interest of safety, Scoot said, the pilot made the decision to turn around even though they were almost halfway through the flight by then.

"We sincerely apologise for the lapse"

Scoot said also that passengers who missed their connecting flights due to the plane's U-turn and the subsequent almost six-hour delay on either Scoot or its partner airlines, would be transferred to the next available flights.

It said:

"We sincerely apologise for the lapse and we will review our training processes to prevent a recurrence."

Here's their statement in full:

"Due to an unaccompanied cabin bag that was unclaimed, Scoot flight TR607 operating from Bangkok to Singapore on 30 January, returned to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport an hour after departure, in the interests of safety.

The aircraft landed safely at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport at approximately 2.10pm local time.

Preliminary investigations revealed that before departure, our ground handling agent had seen an unattended bag in the gatehold room, and handed it to our cabin crew, in the belief that it belonged to one of the passengers from TR607. The crew accepted the bag which was a breach of security protocols, and was unable to determine its owner. The captain was not informed of this issue till the flight had departed Bangkok. After the captain was made aware of the situation, he decided to turn back to Bangkok. Passengers were disembarked from the aircraft, and security personnel conducted the necessary checks. The bag was removed from the aircraft by the authorities.

Flight TR607 has departed Bangkok at 7.49pm local time with a new set of operating crew.

For customers who have missed their connecting flights in Singapore on Scoot or partner airlines, they will be reaccommodated on the next available flights. Scoot staff will be at the gate to assist these passengers upon arrival.

We sincerely apologise for the lapse and we will review our training processes to prevent a recurrence."

Top photo via FlyScoot's Facebook page