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Mock hijack causes tense moments to Jet Airways passengers

Passengers aboard Jet Airways aircraft 9W-612, on the Guwahati-Imphal sector suffered anxious moments on Sunday when they were told that the plane had been hijacked.

The 36 passengers aboard the aircraft which was "hijacked" and parked in a corner of the Gopinath Bordoloi airport at Guwahati, however, heaved a sigh of relief when they learnt it was all part of a three-hour mock exercise. Officials said passengers are usually not informed in advance about the conduct of such an exercise.

There has been confusion about who exactly ordered the operation, with police officials suspecting it to be a dummy exercise conducted by the bureau of civil aviation security, since such operations were usually done on the orders from the civil aviation ministry to test alertness of the airport staff. Agency sources said the aircraft had been chartered by the Airport Authorities of India for the exercise, and no further details have been forthcoming.

What led to the all-around alarm on board the aircraft was that the operation was being conducted in an area that is notorious for United Liberation Front of Assam activities, especially since the ULFA had stepped up its violence over the last week.

Flight 9W-612 had arrived at 1040 hours (IST) from Calcutta and was chartered by the Airport Authorities of India (AAI) for Imphal when it was hijacked, it is learnt.

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