Delhi airport: Mistaken hijack alert sends airport into frenzy
Passengers and security officials at the Delhi airport went into a frenzy after the pilot of a Kandahar-bound flight mistakenly pressed the 'hijack' button prior to take-off. What followed was chaos as security forces sprung into action, and it took a good two hours for satisfactory security checks. The incident happened on board flight FG312, operated by Ariana Afghan Airlines. Here's more.
The elite NSG was involved in security checks
Once the 'hijack' button was pressed, security agencies, including the elite, counter-terrorism National Security Guard (NSG), sprung into action within moments. It took two hours for them to scour the airplane and confirm that there was, in fact, no threat. Subsequently, the plane was allowed to take off. Things have returned to normal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport now.
How the mistake was committed
After the incident, it emerged that the pilot was giving instructions to his co-pilot about the hijacking alert procedure, and the alert got triggered by mistake. In a letter to security officials, the flight's captain, Pokai Naomi, said that Delhi airport officials had informed him of a possible hijack effort, which is why he was briefing his co-pilot. During the briefing, Naomi mistakenly entered the code, thereby alerting air traffic control about a hijack.
