PM upset over handling of 'hijack'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, OCT. 4. With embarrassment writ large on its face over the so-called hijacking of the Alliance Air flight from Mumbai to Delhi late last night, the Government today ordered a high-level probe, headed by the Special Secretary in the Home Ministry, Mr. S. B. Mahapatra, into the incident. The level of inquiry was upgraded (it was initially to be headed by the Director-General, Civil Aviation) after the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, expressed his displeasure at the way things were handled and the top administrators, including himself, kept on their toes till the wee hours of the morning.

In fact, Mr. Vajpayee was reportedly awake till 4 a.m. and the Home Minister, Mr. L. K. Advani, was at the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan where the Crisis Management Group was monitoring the situation. Other top officials, including the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary and the National Security Adviser, Mr. Brajesh Mishra, were also huddled together for the better part of the night.

An elaborate explanation was put out by the Civil Aviation Ministry saying there was a mistake in understanding the message which suggested that the flight from Mumbai ``is going to be hijacked.'' It was received by the Operations Department of Air Alliance and passed on to the officials concerned and the Air Traffic Control (ATC). Since the plane was airborne, instructions were sought from the Commissioner of Security of Civil Aviation, Mr. Veeranna Aivalli, who suggested that the pilot be asked to lock the cockpit and take all possible precautions. These instructions were passed on to the ATC, Ahmedabad, as the plane was flying over the city.

Once the Captain locked the cockpit door, he gave instructions to the passengers over the intercom to fasten their seat belts but did not reveal anything. He was in touch with the cabin crew on the internal phone and asked them to look for suspicious passenger movement. The crew deactivated the toilet adjacent to the cockpit.

According to the Ministry version, a passenger insisted on using the toilet. He became aggressive when he was asked to use the rear one. He demanded to see the Captain and on being denied the request, became fidgety and constantly searched his handbag. At this stage, (around 12.25 a.m.) a message was passed on to the Delhi ATC that there seemed to be a hijacker on board.

In Delhi, top officials including Mr. Mishra, the Cabinet Secretary, the Home Secretary, the Civil Aviation Secretary and the Directors of Intelligence Bureau and the RAW, gathered at the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan where they were joined by Mr. Advani and the Civil Aviation Minister, Mr. Shahnawaz Hussain.

Explaining why such heightened activity took place late in the night, the Civil Aviation Ministry said that after the September 11 attacks in the U. S., there was a spate of inputs from various agencies which indicated a possibility of hijacking taking place in India. Numerous calls to this effect were being received in different airline offices, ATCs and elsewhere. Therefore, the standard procedures and contingency plans were immediately activated.

Once the plane landed in Delhi and was isolated and surrounded by commandos, it gradually became clear, by 3.30 a.m., that there had been no hijack. Yet, two passengers were detained for questioning and later let off.

The Civil Aviation Secretary, Mr. A. H. Jung, later tried to extract some positive outcome from the whole exercise saying the event had proved that the Crisis Management Group was activated almost immediately after the ``hijack'' and that senior officers, including himself, had reached the office within 12 minutes of being informed of the incident.

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