Comments
A woman pilot of an Air India Express flight from Abu Dhabi to Kochi, which was diverted to Thiruvananthapuram due to inclement weather, raised a hijack scare following a fracas with some passengers.
Poor visibility had forced the aircraft with 200 passengers to skip Kochi and be guided to the international airport here on Friday at 6 a.m. The passengers were informed that the flight would take off for Kochi after the weather cleared. But, according to the passengers, after landing, the crew went back on its promise. The passengers were instead asked to travel to Kochi on their own, which reportedly triggered instant protests from the passengers. The air-conditioner on board the aircraft was switched off, and no food or water was served for quite a while, passengers alleged.
It was at this juncture that the pilot, Rupali Waghmare, reported that there was a hijack attempt with four enraged passengers reportedly rushing into the cockpit.
The alert message was flashed to the office of the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), following which an emergency security review was held at the airport.
A security ring was thrown around the aircraft and passengers were warned of arrest ‘unless they behaved.’
On their part, passengers denied that ‘an attempted hijack’ had takenplace.
They said they had only loudly registered their protest when the pilot emerged out of the cockpit.
Almost eight hours later, the aircraft took off for Kochi, at 2 p.m. with a new pilot and crew.
REPORT SENT
Sources at the international airport here officiating for the Director, who is away in Delhi, said a report on the incident had been sent to the DGCA and other higher officials.
An inquiry could be ordered ‘any time,’ they said. The report was made based on the inputs received from the pilot.
Meanwhile, the aircraft landed at the Cochin International Airport at 2-35 p.m. with 165 passengers.
Based on a complaint from Air India Express staff, six passengers were detained by the CISF. But they were let off within an hour following protests by co-passengers and intervention by the Kerala Government, senior sources at the airport said.
POLICE VERSION
K. Padmakumar, Inspector-General of Police, Kochi Range, said the CISF, not the police, had detained the passengers. The police, he said, had informed the CISF that there was no need to detain them as no case had been registered against them.
Later, passengers told mediapersons that the pilot refused to take the flight back to Kochi despite repeated requests.
Comments
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.