'Hijack' drama at Thiruvananthapuram international airport
Later, it was found that it was not a hijack but scuffle between passengers and crew members of an international aircraft.
The high drama at Thiruvananthapuram airport started after passengers of an Air India Express flight from Abu Dhabi created ruckus inside the aircraft. The passengers were annoyed as the flight landed in Thiruvananthapuram instead of its original destination, Kochi.
As per reports, the AI Express flight 4422 from Abu Dhabi was scheduled at 9.15 pm on Thursday, Oct 18 but it was delayed by about three hours.
The flight was to land at Kochi International Airport but due to bad whether had to be diverted to Thiruvananthapuram at 3.30 am. Hence, the flight reached Kochi at around 7 am.
As per reports, some of the passengers after realising that they had reached the wrong destination started having an altercation with the crew members. It is also reported that few passengers even tried to enter the cockpit. Passengers wanted the aircraft to fly to Kochi.
But crew refused to fly further citing rules that prevent them to fly after the stipulated flight hours. The airline offered to take the passengers by bus to Kochi but the offer was refused.
The potentially dangerous security situation prompted the lady pilot to send out a hijack message, sending security agencies into a tizzy.
OneIndia News