The Hijacked Plane Crisis

The hijacked Alliance aircraft has been immobilised at Delhi airport and contact has been established between the ground control and the pilot, a top aviation official said tonight.

The cockpit of the aircraft remains sealed and inaccessible to the hijackers, civil aviation secretary A H Jung said.

The hijackers are apparently able to communicate with pilot through the cabin crew. All 52 persons on board are unhurt, he said.

Jung was unable to say how the hijacking was carried out. The crew had informed the control tower that the hijackers had something in their hands.

Asked about the various options, Jung told Star News that one of the possibilities was the storming of the aircraft.

The Background

An Alliance Air Boeing 737 with 54 passengers on boardwas hijacked after midnight tonight while on a flight from Mumbai to Delhi. The Alliance Air is a subsidiary of the Indian Airlines.The plane is now parked at an isolated bay runway 27 of the airport. Policeand fire vehicles have rushed towards the site.

Unconfirmed reports had earlier put the number of passengers on board the flight at 52.

The plane landed at Delhi airport at around one A.M.after the pilot of the flight CD 7444 had informed the Air Traffic Control (ATC)about the hijack.

The plane is now parked at an isolated bay of the airport.

The pilot has asked for two engineers to come on board,according to Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain who said all thepassengers are safe.

Hussain said soon after the flight had taken off from Mumbai, an anonymous callwas received that the flight was going to be hijacked. Maharashtra governmenthas refused any knowledge of any such call.

A little later, the pilot had radioed to the ATC aboutthe hijack.

The elite National Security Guard commandos and senior officials of the IndianAirlines, of which Alliance Air is a subsidiary, have rushed to the airport asalso personnel from the fire brigade and ambulance services.

A crisis management team has started functioning at theairport.

The number of hijackers and their demands are notimmediately known.

Delhi Police Commissioner Ajai Raj Sharma has reachedthe runway where the plane is parked.

Bomb disposal squad of the Delhi Police has alsoarrived at the scene. When reports last came in, the runway is said to beblocked with a tanker and the cockpit area is sealed, Star News reported.The hijackers are said to be in the passenger area and apparently speak verylittle or no English.

A high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Minister L KAdvani has begun at the Civil Aviation Ministry headquarters at Rajiv GandhiBhavan here.

The meeting which began shortly before 0230 hours is being attended by CivilAviation Minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, foreign secretary Chokila Iyer and top security and intelligenceofficials.

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