Scare after flier asks plane to be taken to US

Kolkata: A passenger on board a Jorhat-Kolkata Jet Airways flight gave everyone on board a scare on Friday when he repeatedly asked the pilot to fly the plane to Houston in the US instead of Kolkata. The pilot made an emergency security landing at Kolkata airport after convincing the man that the flight was being diverted to Houston.
The passenger, Tarun Mahanta, was handed over to immigration department officials and later arrested. During interrogation, Mahanta reportedly told police that he had received a "divine message" that there would be trouble if the flight landed in Kolkata.
Mahanta, a resident of Jorhat, was coming to Kolkata on the flight with 119 other passengers. Barely 30 minutes before the plane was scheduled to land at Kolkata airport, Mahanta suddenly handed over a message to an airhostess and asked her to hand it to the plane's commander. The message asked the pilot to divert the plane to Houston to avoid serious problems. The commander, Sarvesh Gupta, On receiving the message,inquired into the matter and realised that Mahanta was mentally challenged and that there was no cause for worry. He then sent a message to Mahanta, assuring him that the flight was being diverted to Houston.
"As the Republic Day alert was on, there was a sky marshal on board and the pilot had instructed him to keep an eye on Mahanta and ensure that no panic occurred on board," a Jet Airways spokesperson said.
Police said Mahanta claimed to be a child specialist.
30/01/10 Arpit Basu/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Jan 2010, Jet Airways Jan 2010, Safety Jan 2010