Trained negotiators nowhere in sight during IGI hijack scare

New Delhi: How many crisis situations will it take for India's security apparatus to learn its lessons? Despite the recent 26/11 attack on Mumbai, there were no trained negotiators at hand when the crisis management committee met on Sunday after an Indigo flight sounded a terror alert.
When the Indigo flight for taken to an isolated bay following an emergency landing at Delhi, the unruly passenger who had had behaved in a suspicious manner was back in his seat, and since he did not brandish any weapon, NSG commandos were able to overpower him without too much fuss, bringing the crisis to an end.
Sources pointed out that had the hijack been real and a person or a group had actually commandeered the aircraft, the situation would have been rather different. There was every possibility the hijackers would have had to be engaged in negotiations to ensure safety of passengers. This would have been part of a strategy to wear them down even if the government did not concede demands.
It is understood that a member of the crisis management committee would have been deputed to contact the hijackers in such a situation.
Typically, a negotiating team has security experts and psychologists who assist a lead negotiator. Conversations are heard by the team over a speakerphone and members hand in inputs to a person designated to screen suggestions which are then passed on to the negotiator. The team looks to pick up clues well-trained pilots slip in on the hijackers.
Yet, the crisis management committee which met under the cabinet secretary did not have the services of such a group. It is pointed out that if the threat had turned out to be real, there was no question of NSG commandos storming the aircraft immediately. The obvious strategy would have been to grind down the hijackers while analysing their weaponary and psychological state.
04/02/09 Times of India

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Categories: Airports Feb 2009, Indigo Airlines Feb 2009, Safety Feb 2009