On-board 'hijack' threat,Indigo plane makes emergency landing New Delhi, Feb.1 (PTI) An Airbus 320 of low-cost air carrier Indigo with around 163 passengers on board a flight from Goa to Delhi made an emergency landing at the IGI airport here after a mid-air scare when a "couple" of unruly passengers threatened to "hijack" the airplane.All the passengers and the six-member crew of Flight 6E 334 were safe and the situation is under control, airport officials said tonight.
Civil Aviation Secretary M Madhavan Namibar told reporters that passengers who made the threat were being questioned by authorities amid reports that one of them may be in an inebriated conditions. The identity of the passengers was not immediately known. Unconfirmed reports said three passengers were being questioned while Indigo CEO Aditya Ghosh said more than one passenger created a ruckus.
As the over two-hour drama unfolded after the airplane pilot reported to the Air Traffic Control here that a "couple" of passengers were behaving aggressively and made a hijack threat, emergency drill was in place and the aircraft was taken to the isolation bay at the airport. The threat was made about 15 minutes before the aircraft was due to land.
NSG commandoes and CISF personnel quickly surrounded the aircraft and the passengers were allowed to disembark three hours after the plane made an emergency landing at 5.29 PM.
"Following receipt of the information through ATC from the pilot of Indigo Flt No.334 at about 5.15 PM that there were couple of passsengers behaving aggressively who also said that they would hijack the plane, all precautionary measures were activated as per the prescribed drill," Nambiar said.
Aircraft operations were suspended for one hour and several aicraft which had landed delayed the disembarking process. Some incoming flights were also asked by ATC to hover over the Delhi airspace for some time. PTI
Civil Aviation Secretary M Madhavan Namibar told reporters that passengers who made the threat were being questioned by authorities amid reports that one of them may be in an inebriated conditions. The identity of the passengers was not immediately known. Unconfirmed reports said three passengers were being questioned while Indigo CEO Aditya Ghosh said more than one passenger created a ruckus.
As the over two-hour drama unfolded after the airplane pilot reported to the Air Traffic Control here that a "couple" of passengers were behaving aggressively and made a hijack threat, emergency drill was in place and the aircraft was taken to the isolation bay at the airport. The threat was made about 15 minutes before the aircraft was due to land.
NSG commandoes and CISF personnel quickly surrounded the aircraft and the passengers were allowed to disembark three hours after the plane made an emergency landing at 5.29 PM.
"Following receipt of the information through ATC from the pilot of Indigo Flt No.334 at about 5.15 PM that there were couple of passsengers behaving aggressively who also said that they would hijack the plane, all precautionary measures were activated as per the prescribed drill," Nambiar said.
Aircraft operations were suspended for one hour and several aicraft which had landed delayed the disembarking process. Some incoming flights were also asked by ATC to hover over the Delhi airspace for some time. PTI
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