Flight delayed by hijack threat cry

Calcutta: The passengers of Jet Airway’s Mumbai-Calcutta flight on Friday morning were in for a shock, as a middle-aged woman triggered a false hijack alarm while the plane was taxiing for take-off. The woman, a foreign national, was offloaded but the flight got delayed by more than an hour.
Flight 9W201 was scheduled to take off from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, at 6.50am with 120 passengers.
While the plane was approaching the runway, the woman, aged around 50, suddenly unfastened her seat belt and stood up. “She started shouting that the plane had been hijacked and asked all of us to get off,” said a passenger who was sitting near her.
The woman left her seat and went towards the front of the aircraft.
“Please pray! Our flight has been hijacked,” she shouted while banging on the cockpit door, pleading with the crew that she be allowed to get off the flight.
The plane had by then stopped and the pilot informed the airport authorities about the woman.
The flight was brought back to the parking bay and the woman was offloaded. But as a precautionary measure, security personnel went on board and checked the flight and the hand baggage of each passenger.
The check revealed nothing suspicious and the flight was allowed to leave. It finally took off around 8.15am and landed at Calcutta airport at 10.35am.
06/10/07 The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Oct 2007, Foreign Oct 2007, Jet Airways Oct 2007, Safety Oct 2007