Airport drama in Thiruvananthapuram international airport on Friday did not amount to a ‘hijack’ situation, it now transpires.
Air Traffic Control (ATC) sources say the transponder code from the aircraft as received by its radar was 7700.
TECHNICAL EMERGENCY
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh too had corroborated the fact the same evening while speaking about the incident in Delhi.
Code 7700 is an indicator of (technical) emergency, but ATC was compelled to initiate anti-hijack procedures because of the captain’s slip of tongue.
Sources say Capt Rupali Waghmare had spoken over the radio transmitter and had stated that there was a ‘hijack-like situation’ on board.
Because the word ‘hijack’ had been uttered, the control was left with no choice but to initiate post-hijack drill.
PASSENGER PROTEST
The use of the word ‘hijack’ overrides any other reported eventuality and is taken with the seriousness it deserves, says Jacob K. Philip, Editor of Indian Aviation News .
And this is what led to the drama at the airport involving Abu Dhabi-Kochi Air India Express flight 4422 diverted here because of poor visibility.
Passengers had protested on being told they would have to travel by road to Kochi and got into heated arguments with the flight crew.
In the specific event of a hijack, the crew (as per codes mentioned elsewhere here) is taught to obey, rather than resist the hijacker, says Philip.
But in this case, the ATC could hear an exchange of words between the pilot and passengers. In the melee, Capt Rupali chose to radio a ‘hijack alert’ to the ATC.
The transponder code that she used was not 7500 to indicate a hijack. As already mentioned, it was 7700, which signals technical emergency.