Sri Lankan Airlines wins IndiGo maintenance deal

Sri Lankan Airlines said its engineering arm has been awarded a major contract by IndiGo to carry out a series of important maintenance checks on the fast-growing Indian carrier's aircraft fleet.
The work will be done by Sri Lankan Engineering, the aircraft maintenance arm of Sri Lanka's national airline, at it main hangar complex at the Bandaranaike International Airport north of Colombo, a company statement said.
IndiGo is India's largest domestic low-fare carrier, and is now that country's third largest airline in terms of passengers carried.
D A G Jayasuriya, Head of Engineering at Sri Lankan, said the airline has done several heavy maintenance checks for airlines such as Airblue and Emirates over the last several years.
Manoj Gunawardena, Sri Lankan's chief executive, said Sri Lankan Engineering is now ready to carry out work for all airlines in the region.
The airline's school for pilots, aircraft engineers and technicians, Sri Lankan Technical Training, also became one of a few companies in Asia to receive the EASA 147 certification to provide training in aircraft maintenance to foreign and local students.
Sri Lankan has experience with Airbus aircraft, having an all-Airbus fleet of A320, A330, and A340 aircraft. Indigo, which commenced operations in August 2006, now has 125 flights a day to 17 cities in India.
18/02/09 Lanka Business Online

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The secret behind Indigo's success

Like a model in a beauty pageant, low-cost carrier IndiGo is obsessed with weight management. The light coat of paint it uses on its aircraft has reduced their weight by around 50 kg.
It has ordered seats which weigh just 12.8 kg, a new record in India. All its aircraft are cleaned and scrubbed thoroughly every day so that garbage or dust does not raise its weight.
Each of these functions may cut just a fraction of the flab of a 42-tonne aircraft. Taken together, the reduction is not insignificant. Just as a model cannot hope to win a pageant unless her body is in terrific trim, IndiGo has realised that it needs to cut the weight of its aircraft to keep its head above water.
A lighter aircraft means lesser fuel burnt during flights. Jet fuel accounts for 55-60 per cent of the cost of operations for IndiGo. Thus, IndiGo burns less cash than its rivals when its aircraft are flying in the skies. The closely-held airline does not disclose financial numbers. According to KPMG analyst Mark D Martin, a lighter aircraft can cut an airline's operating costs by as much as 10 per cent.
11/02/09 Surajeet Das Gupta & Anirban Chowdhury/Rediff.com

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No courts to try cases under Civil Aviation Act, Mohla might walk free

New Delhi: If booking booking Jitender Mohla under the Civil Aviation Act was an ‘unusual’ move, the Delhi Police now faces another difficulty in keeping him under detention after February 16.
In the current scenario, there are no specific courts in the Capital designated for trying cases under the provisions of the aforesaid Act. Mohla, in custody since February 1 for allegedly triggering a ‘hijack’ scare on board an Indigo Airlines flight, might walk free after 15 days of detention if the Delhi government fails to create one till then.
Senior advocate H S Phoolka, counsel for Mohla, told Newsline: “Mohla’s case is currently before the court of an additional chief metropolitan magistrate. As per the provisions in the Suppression of Unlawful acts against Safety of Civil Aviation, only a judge designated with the authority to adjudicate such cases can try an accused and the current judge clearly does not hold the necessary powers.”
High Court officers, in the meanwhile, said on the condition of anonymity that the issue was already being looked into and a judge might be designated for such cases soon. Referring to Section 5C of the Act, the Mohla’s counsel said a magistrate could not keep an accused in custody for more than 15 days. Within that period, the accused was to be produced before the designated court so that he could be tried under legal provisions.
“If the court is not notified by the High Court about the government’s recommendation, Mohla will be a free man on February 16, as further incarceration would not be legal,” said Phoolka.
09/02/09 Utkarsh Anand/Express India

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No real hijack, pleads Mohla, police say he should not get bail

New Delhi: Delhi Police on Friday opposed the bail plea of Jitender Mohla, the 42-year-old chartered accountant who had allegedly triggered a hijack scare in an Indigo Airlines flight on Sunday. He has been booked under serious charges prescribing a maximum punishment for life because of the crisis situation he had created. The whole country had watched the commotion glued to their TV sets, submitted the police before a city court.
Mohla had moved the court seeking bail on the ground that there was no real hijack situation, it was the “immature and inexperienced” flight crew who implicated him to conceal their lapses.
Responding to the bail application, the prosecution contended before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate R K Goel that the gravity of the offence could not be overlooked.
“Everyone in the country watched what happened owing to his acts. NSG commandoes had to be rushed to the spot and the door of the aircraft could be opened only after two hours of its landing due to the crisis,” claimed the prosecutor.
Arguing on the charge under the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Safety of Civil Aviation Act, 1982 (under which Mohla faces a life term), the prosecution said that the matter could not be termed as a simple incident that happened inside a particular aircraft and that it should be seen in a wider perspective.
The court was also informed that the police had recorded statements of as many as 17 persons, who witnessed the incident.”
The investigation is still at initial stages and hence, the accused should not be granted bail,” said the prosecutor.
Countering the prosecution’s arguments, senior advocate H S Phoolka said that there were no valid grounds to prolong the incarceration of Mohla and that he was not required for investigation purposes anymore.
The counsel also protested the charge under the Aviation Act, contending that the penal provision was meant only for real hijack cases.
07/02/09 Utkarsh Anand/Express India

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Delhi hijack drama: Unruly passenger seeks bail

New Delhi: Jitender Kumar Mohala, arrested for his alleged aggressive behaviour aboard an IndiGo flight from Goa to Delhi that caused a mid-air hijack scare, Thursday moved a court here for bail and the plea will be heard Friday.In his bail plea moved through advocate H.S. Phoolka, Mohala said he was falsely implicated in the case and he was not directly involved in the incident.
Delhi Police had arrested Mohala under the Indian Penal Code’s sections 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others) and 506 (criminal intimidation), as well as under the provisions of the Civil Aviation Act, 1982.
He is presently in judicial custody till Feb 16.
Mohala’s allegedly aggressive behaviour forced the pilot of the IndiGo flight E644 to sound a hijack alert, leading to a scare and panic at the Delhi airport. The plane made an emergency landing and was kept in isolation for two-and-a-half hours.
05/02/09 IANS/Thaindian.com, Thailand

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‘Hijack’ source: pilot remark to crew

The security scare caused on Sunday by the “unruly behaviour” of a passenger on board an Indigo Airlines flight from Goa to Delhi was triggered by an unintended reference to ‘hijack’ from the pilot. It was meant for one of the airhostesses inside the cockpit but that got relayed to the Air Traffic Controller (ATC).
And thereby began the “hijack” scare at the IGI Airport, the transcript of the pilot’s communication with ATC reveals.
Only minutes before, Captain Amit Singh, pilot of the Indigo flight number 334, had asked the ATC to put him on ‘discreet frequency’, thus enabling ATC officials to hear conversations inside the cockpit. Singh had informed ATC that there was an unruly passenger on board and that the aircraft needed “priority landing”, the transcript reveals.
But while trying to calm down his crew, Singh apparently used the word “hijack”. “There is nothing to panic now. I have informed the ATC it is a hijack,” he purportedly told the airhostess, as the transcript reveals.
Result: the statement raised an alarm in the ATC office, which immediately alerted the entire anti-hijacking security mechanism.
Asked whether he had used the word “hijack”, Captain Singh said: “What can I say now? Let’s wait for the inquiry report.”
“The word ‘hijack’ creates a scare, for no one knows the amount of ammunition being held inside the aircraft,” a senior ATC official told Newsline.
Hearing the word “hijack”, the ATC official on duty asked the pilot whether he needed any other assistance. “Nothing; I would need security assistance on landing,” Captain Singh said in reply, as per the transcript.
The aircraft was immediately granted priority landing and was asked to land on Runway 28. “The plane was soon taken to an isolated bay, a standard procedure followed in case of such an emergency landing,” the ATC official said.
“It seems things were blown out of proportion,” a senior DGCA official said on conditions of anonymity.
04/02/09 Geeta Gupta/Express India

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NSG added to chaos; claims preliminary report

New Delhi : The Air Traffic Control (ATC) at IGI Airport may have pressed the panic button following hijack scare on an Indigo flight and the elite NSG wasted time in delaying the opening of the aircraft door leading to chaos, claims a preliminary enquiry report.
The NSG was also blamed for creating chaos and confusion at the airport when it delayed opening of the door of the aircraft by nearly two hours and 20 minutes since the flight landed around 1730 hours despite orders for doing so, the sources said.The NSG crack team was awaiting for its team leader who arrived late, the sources said, adding the delay added to the confusion.
Efforts to reach the NSG Director General J K Dutt were made by the Crisis Management Group but he was apparently incommunicado, the sources claimed.
03/02/09 Samay Live

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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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Mohla had rum before flight but was in ‘senses’; got no militant link: Report

New Delhi: Though Jitender Kumar Mohla was under the influence of alcohol when he created ruckus aboard the Indigo flight on Sunday, investigators confirm that he was absolutely in his senses.
Mohla, a chartered accountant based in Dwarka held for unruly behaviour that led to the hijack scare, underwent four hours of interrogation by Delhi Police and Intelligence Bureau officials. He was sent to 14-day judicial custody on Monday.
The interrogation report — Newsline has a copy — states that Mohla had Old Monk rum before boarding the flight from Mumbai, and misbehaved with the airhostess as soon as he was in the flight.
“The joint interrogation conducted by IB, Special Branch (and) local police does not reveal any terrorist activities or connection. No affiliation with any terrorist outfit was found,” the interrogation report says.
The report says Mohla went to Panjim, Goa, on January 29 to attend an income tax and WTO conference on accountancy but could not attend the latter part of it as he fell ill. “He attended the conference on January 30 but could not attend it (conference) on January 31 due to ill-health.”
The interrogation report says that Mohla suffers from hypertension and diabetes.
In the flight on the way back home, the report says, Mohla posed as an official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (the apex civil aviation body) and misbehaved with the airhostess.
Mohla went to Air Force Bal Bharti School in the Capital before moving to Kanpur for his graduation — B Com from PRN College. He completed Chartered Accountancy from the Capital. “In 1996, he went to Bangladesh to work as a quality controller with a private firm at the Dhaka Export Promotion Zone,” the interrogation report says.
04/02/09 Geeta Gupta/Express India

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Mola & hijack? None can believe

New Delhi: Sound out Jitendra Kumar Mola’s friends and relatives, and none can believe he could have changed so much as to keep the capital on high alert for almost six hours.
Described by neighbours as someone with a perpetual smile on his face, Mola shocked all who knew him on Sunday when he was shown on TV being led away from Delhi airport for threatening to hijack Indigo Flight 6E334.
Mola is in judicial custody till February 16 and could be given life imprisonment, if convicted.
A chartered accountant by profession, Mola lives with his parents and wife in flat No. 662 in the Air Force-Naval Officers Enclave for retired officers in Dwarka Sector 7. In the three years he has stayed there, residents have not once heard of him being aggressive or seen such acts by him.His father, Air Commodore (retired) Ashok Kumar, appeared shocked when he visited his son in jail today.
“He was too shocked to say anything. He just kept repeating that he had never seen his son like this before,” said an officer who met Kumar.
Retired Flight Lieutenant S.S. Yadav, one of the few neighbours of Mola who agreed to speak, said he couldn’t believe the “nice young man” could have done such a thing.“The family is well known and very well liked in the colony. There have been no complaints against Jitendra ever,” said Yadav, also the vice-president of the colony’s Residents Welfare Association.
Police officers, too, are foxed. “He doesn’t seem too perturbed. Even when in jail, he behaves as if it is a regular thing for him. He has shown no panic or remorse. It’s as if he doesn’t understand how a prank can get him into deep trouble,” an officer said. Psychiatrist Harish Shetty, however, said: “He is definitely unstable. It’s not a prank. A bomb scare can be called a prank when the prankster... knows he might get away with it. In this case, this was an attack by someone who is frustrated and needs to show off his aggression.”
03/02/09 Ananya Sengupta/The Telegraph

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A CA, why he created scare? Cops in a fix

New Delhi: The man who caused a scare on Sunday's Indigo flight E-664, from Delhi to Goa, Jeetendra Mohala (42), was remanded to 14 days in judicial custody at Dwarka Metropolitan Court on Monday. Mohala has been booked under sections 336 (act endangering life and personal safety of others) and section 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of Indian Penal Code and Suppression of Unlawful Act Against Safety Of Civil Aviation Act, 1982, which is non-bailable.
However, the cops probing the incident are still clueless about why Mohala, a chartered accountant and son of a retired Air Commodore from the Indian Air Force, behaved like this. "The NSG handed him over to us on Monday and we are investigating the matter. It is difficult to determine the motive for his actions yet and questioning is on,'' said DCP (airport) Sanjay Kumar. He added that the other two persons, identified as Sameer Uppal and Harmeet Anand, who were detained along with Mohala, were released by Sunday late evening after questioning because there was nothing to suggest that they were active participants in the incident. Both of them pleaded innocence.
Ujjwal Mishra, additional CP (operations), said he was not sure what prompted the accused to act in such a manner. "However, there are many independent versions which prove that the accused had misbehaved with the air hostesses,'' said Mishra.
Surprisingly, even though initially there were allegations that Mohala was drunk during the incident, no test to determine this was conducted on him, and police say that by the time they were given his custody, it was too late to conduct any such test. Mohala was, reportedly, unarmed when he was arrested and there was nothing in his luggage that could be used as a weapon.
Mohala's family, which stays at Air Force-Naval Officers Enclave for retired officers in Dwarka Sector 7 refused to comment on the issue.
03/02/09 Medha Chaturvedi/Times of India

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Delhi hijack drama: A prank gone too far

New Delhi: On a day the man who created an in-flight ruckus was arrested and sent to 14-day judicial custody, Assistant Commissioner of Police Ujjwal Mishra called Sunday’s incident a “prank”.
“It looks like a prank that went too far,” Mishra said about Jitender Kumar Mohalla’s act that sent security forces into a tizzy at the IGI Airport.
It looked like nothing unusual when the police invoked Section 336 (acts endangering life and personal safety) and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) against him. Seven years in jail is the maximum punishment under these two sections of the Indian Penal Code.
But the police went a step ahead and, perhaps for the first time in the national capital, also booked him under Section 3(1)(d) of the Suppression of Unlawful Acts in the Safety of Civil Aviation Act, 1982. The stringent Act invites a maximum imprisonment for life if one is found guilty of unlawfully and intentionally communicating information that he/she knows to be false, so as to endanger the safety of an aircraft in flight.
The Act makes the offence non-bailable, and the offender is also liable to be fined. Not only are provisions of this Act sparingly used by the police, arresting a man under it is probably unprecedented as far as creating scare at a Delhi airport is concerned.
The provisions are used mostly in case of hijackers and terrorists for endangering passengers’ lives. It was translated into an Act on the basis of an international convention at Montreal in September 1971.
03/02/09 Utkarsh Anand/ExpressIndia

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Commodore son’s flight of fury

New Delhi: A chartered accountant apparently sold on his air commodore father’s profession is being held responsible for Sunday’s “hijack threat” that activated a security drill, held up 30 flights and 2,000 passengers and spoiled the home minister’s Sunday.
If he is found guilty under a stringent law invoked against him, Jitendra Kumar Mola could be kept in jail for life or as many as 14 years.
The 40-year-old Mola has been charged with endangering public safety by claiming in mid-air that he was involved with the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane — because he was not allowed to switch his designated seat on an IndiGo flight from Goa to Delhi yesterday.
Delhi police sources claimed Mola had said during questioning that he made the hijack claim “just for kicks”.
Accounts of fellow passengers and investigators suggest the chartered accountant took pride in posing as a sky marshal and had some fascination for aviation posts — an interest he could have picked up from his father who is a retired air commodore. Mola and his family stay in a defence officer’s colony in Sector 7 in west Delhi’s Dwarka. The police said Mola told an airhostess that he was a sky marshal and misled several passengers on or before the flight. Sameer Uppal, who was picked up by commandos because he was seen speaking to Mola but was eventually freed, told the police that the fellow passenger had introduced himself as an Indian Air Force officer.
Another passenger Harpreet Anand, also picked up but released later, said Mola claimed he was an official of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
These claims could have been passed off as harmless but the matter spun out of control when Mola was not allowed to change seats. Mola told the airhostess he was involved in the Kandahar hijacking. The airhostess then informed the captain who alerted Delhi airport.
PTI quoted police as also saying: “Mola claimed that he had a gun and infectious needles.”
A medical examination did not find traces of alcohol — the only anomaly mentioned was low pressure which a doctor said could not be the reason for his behaviour.
Additional commissioner of police Ujjwal Mishra said Mola had complained of breathlessness and low blood pressure at Goa airport.
“...I don’t see any connection— his low BP couldn’t have made him aggressive,” said Rajat Mitra, a doctor in Delhi, a city not unfamiliar with motorists flying off the handle at the slightest provocation.
Mola did not betray any aggression as he headed to jail. Wearing a grey blazer and a white shirt, he refused to comment on his behaviour.
02/02/09 Ananya Sengupta/The Telegraph

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No specific law to deal with pranksters on flights

New Delhi: The hijack hoax played by an unarmed Indigo airline passenger has exposed a legal lacuna there is no specific provision for penalizing those who inflict such trauma and inconvenience on others travelling in the aircraft without any actual physical danger to them.
The police, therefore, invoked a provision that deals with a hijack that was real. Section 3 of the Suppression of Unlawful Act Against Safety of Civil Aviation Act, 1982, imposes life sentence for a range of offences committed on board an aircraft in flight.
The clause invoked by the police Section 3(1)(a) against the errant passenger, Jitendra Kumar Mohla, pertains to anybody who "unlawfully and intentionally commits an act of violence against a person on board an aircraft in flight which is likely to endanger the safety of such aircraft.''
This offence is considered so serious that another clause of Section 3 unusually prescribes a penalty of same severity (life sentence) even for those who have merely "attempted'' or "abetted'' it. Since it is a non-bailable offence, the court on Monday remanded Mohla to 14-day judicialcustody.
But this charge is unlikely to stick because it wasn't a real hijack attempt. Therefore, the prosecution is likely to fall back on the two general provisions from the Indian Penal Code that have been included in the case. The more serious among those IPC offences is "criminal intimidation'' which in its aggravated form is punishable with imprisonment up to seven years.
According to Section 503 of the Indian Penal Code, "whoever threatens another with any injury...with intent to cause alarm to that person... commits criminal intimidation.'' Section 506 says that the offence is ordinarily punishable with imprisonment up to two years. It adds that "if the threat be to cause death or grievous hurt, or to cause the destruction of any property'', the offender could get a maximum sentence of seven years.
The mildest provision that Mohla has been booked under is Section 336 IPC dealing with acts endangering life or personal safety of others. The penalty for this does not extend beyond three months as it is about any act done "so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life or the personal safety of others.''
03/02/09 Manoj Mitta/Times of India

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'Hijack' drama: Lessons from the mid-air scare

New Delhi: Forty-year old Jeetender Mohala may have never thought of hijacking a plane.
But his alleged unruly behaviour on board resulted in a six-hour anti-hijack drill and his eventual detention.
According to sources in the police, this is how the whole incident played out on Sunday.
Upon entering the aircaft, Jeetender got into a heated argument with an air hostess over seating arrangement. Police says that he threatened the air hostess by saying things like, "I will cut my vein, don't you know, I am a sky marshall? I was involved in the Kandahar hijacking,” he said.He then allegedly threatened to hijack the plane if the crew didn't listen to him. At this point, the crew informed the pilot who in turn initiated the anti-hijack security drill.
President of Indigo (Delhi), Aditya Ghose Ghose told CNN-IBN the crew did whatever it could in a potential hijack situation. The issue was – his behaviour was out of ordinary and unruly inside the aircraft. Several things happened the details of which I am not in position to divulge since probe is on. But what happened inside the aircraft led cockpit crew to believe that safety of passengers and aircraft may be under threat. They carried out procedure they are trained in, the Captain, when closer to Delhi asked for priority landing from ATC which we got. Details won’t be right to divulge since it's a serious security threat,” he said.
Anti-hijack expert Col Mahendra P Chaudhary said India can be hijack-ready if all the measures are in place. “We need to take into account a terrorists' psychology. They will, after hijacking, take the aircarft to a larger airport for publicity. Smaller airport won’t get publicity. Even if they do, it is only the anti-hijack drill will come into affect. That's when NSG will come into action. But even before that we will have to collect intelligence regarding hijackers inside. This can be done when someone transmits from inside the aircraft. There has to be a system whereby NSG needs to drop some bugs inside aircarft which will let them know of the details”.
02/02/09 CNN-IBN

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Flights could have been diverted

New Delhi: The hijack drama at the IGI Airport on Sunday evening saw ripple effects at all other airports in the country. The airport was virtually closed for almost two hours as security agencies took over the airside to secure the area and several departures were held up as passengers were either not able to board or had to sit inside the aircraft till they were cleared for take-off.
Experts, while they commended the agencies concerned for the well-managed crisis situation, questioned the very decision to have the flight land at one of the busiest airports in the city when it was under threat of being blown up. "Had the threats been real and if the aircraft was really blown up, it would have caused major damage. It might have been more prudent to land the aircraft at a smaller airport where damage to life and property could have been minimal,'' said experts.
Once the IndiGo aircraft landed in Delhi at 5.30 pm, NSG and CISF personnel acted swiftly and spread themselves at the airside, blocking off all approach routes. This meant that there was absolutely no vehicular movement, including of transfer coaches, baggage trolleys or step-ladders. Consequently, neither boarding not disembarking was possible. Sources at the airport revealed that such an arrangement was in place till 7.15 pm, till the time a clearer picture emerged of what actually was happening within the aircraft.
After 7.15 pm, restrictions were in place only around the isolation bay, affecting the satellite apron that is very close to the area. "These restrictions were also lifted by 8 pm. Such measures were required in a situation of a possible hijack. The area had to be secured against any outside threat while the other parts of the airport too had to be secured against any possible threat from the aircraft. Once the picture became clearer, the restrictions were lifted,'' said senior government officials.
The isolation bay is located close to runway 27 the secondary runway. After the flight landed on the main runway, it was taken to this place. Closest to this bay is the satellite apron, located next to taxiway E that runs parallel to the secondary runway. Flights that were parked here were not able to move out till the crisis was sorted out.
Meanwhile, as passengers kept pouring into the departure terminal and no boarding was taking place, the terminals were stuffed beyond capacity. ".. Boarding was stopped for a good two hours and there was absolute chaos inside the terminal....,'' said sources within the airport.
03/02/09 Neha Lalchandani/Times of india

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Drill was a real-time test

New Delhi: The security agencies seem reasonably pleased with their response to the hijack threat on Sunday with commandos prepared for much harder options if the passenger who caused the alert had not "subsided" and returned to his seat when the Indigo flight landed at Delhi.
The communication from the cockpit informing the ATC that the passenger was seated and had not produced a weapon, allowed the NSG team some time to factor in the safety of other travellers before entering the aircraft.
The anti-hijacking unit, top security officials and even Union home minister P Chidambaram experienced a "real time" test in the wake of the alert on Sunday with the sequence of events seeing the minister station himself in the control room of Intelligence Bureau (IB) till an all clear was sounded.
The alert saw Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar summoning home, defence and civil aviation secretaries for a meeting of the committee of secretaries on anti-hijacking within half-an-hour of the landing of the aircraft at Delhi Airport.
The NSG's anti-hijacking commandos and Quick Reaction Team of the CISF surround the aircraft within 20 minutes of getting the first call from the pilot to the Air Traffic Control.
A senior home ministry official said each and every stage of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) was followed minutely. Even the time taken by the commandos to get inside the aircraft was intended to ensure no step was taken in haste at the cost of passengers' safety, he added.
NSG officials said had the unruly passenger begun harming people, the action would have certainly been different from what was witnessed on Sunday night. Commandos were constantly informed what was happening inside with the help of coordinated communication through pilot, ATC and ground control room. Even after swooping down the accused Jitendra and two others, the commandos did not let the passengers go as they wanted to screen each and every one before allowing them to exit.
03/02/09 Vishwa Mohan/Times of India

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Hijack suspect suffered from low Blood Pressure

It was a three-hour long drama for the passengers of an Indigo flight from Goa to Delhi on Sunday. They went through what perhaps was the closest to a near-hijack situation -- one that tested the preparedness of the airport officials and security apparatus.
It was initially believed that the main suspect involved in the hijack drama was drunk. But it now appears that he was suffering from low blood pressure. He was restlessly walking in the passage.
When the crew requested him to sit down, he started misbehaving. He first said, "I am a sky marshal" and later added, "I have something and I will blow the plane up. The accused also said that he has other people with him.
The other two passengers detained were spotted speaking to him earlier, which is why they were questioned, but later let off when no connection was established.
02/02/09 NDTV.com

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IndiGo hijack alert tests India's anti-terror setup

New Delhi: It was 1700 hrs (IST) when the pilot of an IndiGo Airlines aircraft, flight no E-664 from Delhi to Goa sent out a distress signal over Jaipur and sought priority landing. He also asked the ATC to move him to a discreet radio frequency, a procedure followed in Hijack situations.
The pilot told the ATC through the secure line that three people were acting suspiciously. Police sources said out of the three one was drunk and misbehaved with the airhostesses. They also threatened to hijack the aircraft.
The pilot then asked for armed support from on the ground. At 1730 hrs the aircraft landed at Delhi only to be taken to an isolated slot. Quick response teams of the CISF, police and the NSG immediately surrounded the aircraft.
Considering the high alert in the country no one wanted to take any chances.
It took over two hours for the security forces to clear the aircraft. Passengers were finally freed after a thorough check and Home Minister P Chidambaram hasn't ruled out a hijack threat.
"We don't know if it was a hijack. There were 163 passengers and six crew members. Three have been detained, we have names but unless they are interrogated and their identity is established we cannot release the names. All passengers are safe. They have been given refreshments and I believe they have now been allowed to go home," Chidambaram told CNN-IBN.
The anti-hijack machinery of the government was put to test. Those responsible for quick action proved that they were prepared to meet any eventuality. Even the Committee of Secretaries on Anti-Hijacking' was quick to meet to discuss the issue.
The suspects were identified as Sameer, Jeetendra and Hardeep. By late evening, the other two allowed to leave, only Jeetendra was detained by the police for interrogation.
02/02/09 Karma Paljor / CNN-IBN

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Two persons released, one still in custody in hijack scare drama

New Delhi: Two persons, including a woman, who were detained in connection with the "hijack" scare onboard an Indigo aircraft here, were today released by police after questioning."Another person is still in custody," they said, adding the three of the detained were questioned over night about the entire incident.
Three passengers -- Jitendra Kumar, Samir Uppal and Harpreet -- were taken into custody for questioning after their behaviour aroused suspicions inside a Indigo aircraft yesterday, police sources said.
Police are awaiting medical reports to establish whether the three passengers were in an inebriated condition.
An Airbus A320 aircraft (Flight 6E 334) of low-cost air carrier Indigo with around 163 passengers on board a flight from Goa to Delhi made an emergency landing at the IGI airport here yesterday after the airplane pilot reported to the Air Traffic Control that a "couple" of passengers were behaving aggressively and made a hijack threat.
Emergency drill was in place immediately and the aircraft was taken to the isolation bay at the airport.
02/02/09 Press Trust of India

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