India's first anti-terror test fails, Govt directs urgent measures

New Delhi: The first major test of India’s supposedly faster, smarter anti-terror system turned out to be a grand fiasco, it has now emerged.
The Cabinet Secretary, India’s most senior bureaucrat, convened a series of review meetings after the hijack drama involved IndiGo flight E6-334 from Goa to Delhi On February 2. The message: Fix the problems.
After the Air Traffic Control (ATC) flashed the “hijack” message, the Flight E6-334 landed at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport at around 5.20 p.m. and NSG commandos arrived quickly enough at the airport from a nearby base — but without their commander. The officer got late as he had to come in from NSG headquarters in Manesar, Haryana, 50 km south of the airport.
Further time was lost as the NSG team and airport guards from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) quarreled about who would do what, the documents said.
No one knew who was to run the show, the documents said, citing the lack of “effective coordination” among the NSG, the CISF and the Delhi police.
The confusion wasn’t only about roles.
The NSG and the CISF — a paramilitary force tasked with protecting India’s economic infrastructure -- disagreed even about switching on floodlights around the parked aircraft.
Switch on the floodlights, said the CISF. No, switch them off, said the NSG. The February 1 comedy of errors continued. Secure hotlines in control rooms did not work and unsecure mobile phones were used instead by intelligence and security agencies.
This behind-the-scenes confusion translated into chaos at the airport.
“There was a time lag between stationing of the aircraft in the isolation bay (17.37 hrs) and door opening (19.50 hrs), evacuation process of passengers (21.13 hrs) and final delivery of baggage,” pointed out Nasim Zaidi, Director General of Civil Aviation during the February 7 meeting. Besides, air traffic was disrupted for hours.
The Cabinet Secretary has directed immediate corrective measures after two meetings with members of three bodies tasked with overseeing anti-hijack operations: Committee of Secretaries for Aircraft Hijack, the Central Committee and the Aerodrome Committee.
12/07/09 Manish Tiwari/Hindustan Times

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