Panic over crash reading scares flyer, delays take-off

The IGIA witnessed high drama on Tuesday morning after a Kolkata-bound Air India plane had to abort take-off after a passenger raised suspicion over the behaviour of her three co-passengers, who later turned out to be senior officials of a government security agency, reports HT Correspondent.

When travelling in a plane, be very careful about what to choose to read – it might land you in trouble.

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The Indira Gandhi International Airport witnessed high drama on Tuesday morning after a Kolkata-bound Air India plane had to abort take-off after a passenger raised suspicion over the behaviour of her three co-passengers, who later turned out to be senior officials of a government security agency.

According to airport sources, one of the men was reportedly reading a book on air crashes and that raised the suspicion of the woman. The Air India flight IC-401, with 104 passengers and cabin crew, was scheduled to take off for Kolkata around 7 a.m..

“The plane had reached the take-off point when a woman passenger, an off-duty air hostess, become suspicious over the behaviour of her co-passengers and informed the cabin crew,” an Air India spokesman said.

After the cabin crew informed the pilot, he decided to abort take-off and asked the Air Traffic Control to allow him return to the parking bay from the take-off point. As soon as it arrived, the airline’s security staff and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel boarded the plane and asked the three passengers to prove their identities.

“The female passenger is a Kolkata-based air hostess with Alliance Air,” said a senior airport official who did not wished to be named.

“She saw one of the security officials reading a book on air crashes and also found their appearance suspicious,” he said.