Six passengers detained after hijack drama

Thiruvananthapuram, October 19: An Air India woman pilot, who sent a hijack message to officials at the Thiruvananthapuram airport this morning after passengers tried to force their way into the cockpit, has filed a written complaint that they threatened her, tried to assault her and stopped her from getting off the plane. According to local media reports, six passengers have been detained and others are protesting at the Kochi airport where the plane has now landed.

The passengers say that the pilot has made a false complaint.

It all began early this morning, when the flight, headed from Abu Dhabi to Kochi in Kerala, was diverted suddenly to Thiruvananthapuram, 30 minutes of flying time away, because of fog.

There are differing versions of what happened next. The pilot, Captain Rupali Wagmare, allegedly pressed an alarm button to the airport because passengers allegedly tried to force their way into the cockpit to protest against the re-routing. Air India sources said she felt threatened and panicked as the passengers banged the cockpit door. They even assaulted a male steward, sources add. The airline has reportedly asked the local police to lodge an FIR against unidentified persons and six passengers, who allegedly tried to stop the pilot from deplaning; they have been detained at Kochi airport.

At about 12.15 pm today, the airline organised a new pilot and crew for the flight and it took off around 2 pm, more than seven hours after it had landed. A top policeman said they were agitated because of lack of food and having had to wait for very long.

A passenger named Sivan said the airline's version is incorrect. He said that the flight was meant to land at Kochi at 3.30 am. After they landed in Thiruvananthapuram at 6:30 am, he said passengers were kept waiting on the plane for close to seven hours without any information. The air-conditioning of the flight was switched off while they waited on board, he added.

The pilot and crew then tried to disembark because their shift had ended. At this point, Sivan said, passengers who were worried about further delays began arguing with the pilot. He said nobody tried to enter the cockpit. He also said that passengers were angry because the airline was considering terminating the flight at Thiruvananthapuram and driving them to their destination, Kochi.

The regulatory body for aviation, the DGCA, is conducting an inquiry to determine what happened.

Food, water not provided, say passengers

Another passenger, Tanya said it was a “terrible situation with lot of women and children here. We were not given food.The AC was switched off and there was no proper sanitation also. We asked for food, but we were not even provided water".

She said the passengers complained about the delay and lack of food and water but “no one tried to go upto the cockpit."

Another passenger Premjit said the flight was supposed to land at Kochi at 3:30 a.m. but due to fog at the airport, the plane, which had already been delayed from Abu Dhabi, landed at Thiruvananthapuram at 6:30 a.m.

Nothing was done to take the passengers to Kochi and they were told that the plane had to wait at the airport here for refuelling, he said.

Sources said police was unlikely to register case against passengers and felt a humane approach should be taken.

Police said the passengers were upset as they had to wait for a long time and there was no security issue. Another pilot was sent to the aircraft and “there is no emergency of hijack as claimed by the previous pilot”, they said.

The plane left for Kochi at 1:55 p.m.

Earlier

Thiruvananthapuram, October 19: There was high drama at Thiruvananthapuram airport on Friday morning after passengers of an Air India Express flight from Abu Dhabi created ruckus inside the aircraft after the flight landed here instead of its original destination, Kochi.

As per reports, the AI Express flight 4422 from Abu Dhabi was scheduled at 9.15 pm local time yesterday but it was delayed for over three hours. Instead of its scheduled arrival time 3.30 am, the flight reached Kochi airspace at around 7 am. However the pilot could not land the aircraft due to bad weather, following which the aircraft was diverted to Thiruvananthapuram.

As per the initial reports, some of the passengers on realising that they have reached the wrong destination had an altercation with the crew with some even trying to forcefully enter the cockpit. They demanded that the aircraft should fly back to Kochi.

But crew refused to fly further citing rules that prevent them to fly after the stipulated flight hours. The airline offered to take the passengers by bus to Kochi but the offer was refused.

The potentially dangerous security situation prompted the lady pilot to send out a hijack message, sending security agencies into a tizzy.

However, a passenger of the flight told the news channel said that the crew was not “attacked”, it was only that people where demanding to know what the crew was planning to do to solve the crisis.

“There was only an exchange of words in front of the door of the cockpit and no one tried to enter the cockpit,” a passenger told a news channel form inside the aircraft.

As a Hijack alert was sounded by the pilot, the flight would need clearance from the security agencies before it can take to the skies to the again.