Extra cover for fliers soon

Kolkata: With intelligence agencies apprehensive of a 1999-style hijacking by the Lashkar or Jaish to free Mumbai strike accused Ajmal Amir Kasab, sky-marshals will be deployed on flights to and from Kolkata. Sources revealed that security will be tightened' on board all flights to and from places like Nepal, Bangkok, Dhaka and North-East.
Sky-marshals are basically commandos, trained in counter-hijacking. Carrying sidearms, these sky-marshals can take on people trying to take over control of an aircraft.
"..While security at Kolkata and other airports in the east and North-East have been tightened, security personnel will also be on board to tackle any situation. Commandos will board the flights, selected on a random basis, as normal passengers. Barring senior members of the crew, nobody will be aware of their identity," a source said.
While there would be no problem in the domestic sector, flights landing on foreign soil with an armed person could pose problems. A senior officer said talks are on with other countries to sort out such issues.
22/02/09 Jayanta Gupta/Times of India

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Categories: Safety Feb 2009