IGI: Bomb, hijack hoax holds up flight for hrs

It was high drama at noon. The airport police got special inputs from Kanpur cops about a “highjack” plan, evacuated the Kanpur-bound Alliance Air (Air India regional wing) flight, and spent almost three hours on intense security checks involving anti-hijack and anti-sabotage measures.
In the end, it turned out to be a hoax call, and the flight finally took off at 3.23 pm.
The airport was put on high alert soon after Kanpur police informed Airport Traffic Control here that they had received an anonymous call about the hijack threat to flight CD 7801 of Alliance Air.
The aircraft was towed away to an isolated bay and all 44 passengers were de-boarded and frisked by teams of Central Industrial Security Force, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, NSG, Bomb Detection & Disposal Squad and sniffer dogs, the Delhi International Airport Limited said in a statement.
The unidentified caller also claimed that bombs had been placed in the plane.
Meanwhile, Chakeri airport in Kanpur was put on extra-high alert. The plane finally landed at Kanpur airport at 4.25 pm, where Superintendent of Police (East) Atul Saxena said the alert at Chakeri was a “mock drill”. He said it was a “routine exercise” ahead of the Babri Masjid demolition anniversary, on Thursday. He was, however, unable to answer queries about the anonymous call threat about which the ATC in Delhi was informed.
05/12/07 Delhi Newsline

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Categories: Air India Regional Dec 2007, Airports Dec 2007, NACIL Dec 2007, Safety Dec 2007