Mock hijack drama at Coimbatore airport

Coimbatore: Coimbatore Airport looked tense and, the Anti-Hijack Control Room (AHCR) therein was abuzz after a plane ready for take-off was hijacked on Saturday.
It was a North-North Airlines with 22 members - 18 passengers, two crews and two pilots - on board which was hijacked by a three-member gang belonging to naxals and Tamil Youth Rebel Army (TYRA), a Burmese outfit of Tamil origin.
The operation, `Kongu Plan,’ which left one passenger dead was carried out for release of two naxals imprisoned in Coimbatore Prison and a ransom of one lakh US dollars.
The hijacked plane was supposed to be airborne at 10.20 a.m. but was not showing any signals of take-off.
When the Air Traffic Control (ATC) contacted the pilots, the hijackers demanded top government officials for negotiation.
The ATC alerted the City Police, the CISF and the airport authorities. The Airport’s Anti-Hijack Committee started negotiations with the hijackers.
The City Police Commissioner C K Gandhirajan as chairman of the Anti-Hijack Committee took the responsibility as the chief negotiator.
Other top officials who reached the AHCR are Deputy Commissioner (law and order) P Sugumaran, Assistant Commissioner (security), Sambasivam, Airport Director, K Hemalatha and CISF Deputy Commandant Arun Singh.
While the negotiations were on, the hijackers grew impatient and killed a passenger and threw his body out.
Another passenger developed health complications. A doctor was summoned and the patient was subsequently released.
Later, all the women passengers and children were let off. Few Ayyappa devotees, who were on board were also released.
According to Gandhirajan, the government had refused to meet the demands of the hijackers despite giving them a four-wheeler number pretending to release the two Naxals with ransom.
By then, the security forces rounded up the plane and the hijackers were forced to surrender. The episode ended around 12.15 noon.
Now, it was not a real hijack incident but a mock drill conducted for the first time by the Airport Authorities.
23/12/07 S Sujatha/Newindpress

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Dec 2007, Safety Dec 2007