Ulfa gaffe hits Bangla team plane

New Delhi: A mock air-safety drill turned into a huge faux pas today with the “call from Barua, Delhi chief of Ulfa” delaying a Dhaka-bound Jet Airways flight carrying five top Bangladesh government officials, sources said.
Mock security drills are meant to test airports’ preparedness to tackle emergencies, but the choice of flight was a bloomer, especially just a fortnight before Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visits India.
What made the “threat call” doubly effective — and ironical — was the mention of Ulfa, since the Hasina government recently handed over top leaders of the outfit to India in a goodwill gesture.
The flight was to leave at 12.30pm but takeoff had already been delayed by an hour when, as the plane sat on the tarmac at 1pm, the mock threat call from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security arrived.
All 106 passengers were evacuated and luggage was offloaded after moving the plane to an isolation bay, delaying the flight by a further three hours, sources said.
05/12/09 Nishit Dholabhai/The Telegraph

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Categories: Airports Dec 2009, Foreign Dec 2009, Jet Airways Dec 2009, Safety Dec 2009