'Manly' Russian in burqa grounds SpiceJet flight

Kolkata: A Spicejet flight on Wednesday made a 'priority landing' in Kolkata after two Russian passengers, including a woman in a burqa, behaved "suspiciously" on board, an airport official said.
The pilot was given a priority landing after passengers reported the couple to air crew and the woman refused to take off her burqa for identification, Kolkata airport director R. Srinivasan said. The low-cost SpiceJet flight with 123 passengers on board was heading from Pune in the south via the capital New Delhi and on to Kolkata.
The plane was taken to an isolation bay at the airport for a search and was surrounded by CISF personnel, the bomb squad, fire brigade and the police, the sources saida. The two Russians have been detained by the authorities for questioning.
The burqa-clad passenger, however, turned out to be a woman, the sources said. Her large physique made the crew suspect that she was actually a man and since her identity could not be verified onboard, the pilot asked for permission from the ATC to make a priority landing, the sources said.
05/05/10 PTI/Times of India

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Categories: Airports May 2010, Safety May 2010, spicejet May 2010