ATC pressed hijack alert; NSG added to chaos

The 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 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.

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According to the enquiry conducted by the central security agencies, the pilot of the Indigo's 6E-334 on a flight from Goa to Delhi on Sunday approached the ATC and sought permission to talk on a secured line which was granted, official sources said.

The sources said the pilot then conveyed to the ATC that a passenger had been behaving abnormally and claiming himself to be an official of Directorate General of Civil Aviation and was also threatening to hijack the plane.

The ATC, while granting the permission for a priority landing, said it was treating the call as a hijack one and all concerned were alerted, the sources said.

The pilot of the Indigo plane was examined and now his statement could be corroborated with the conversation he had with the ATC and recorded in instruments placed inside the cockpit of the aircraft, the sources said.

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 JK Dutt were made by the Crisis Management Group but he was apparently incommunicado, the sources claimed.