08 March,2011 07:06 AM IST | | Surender Sharma
Flight from Amritsar to Toronto delayed by five hours. Ground staff allegedly didn't want plane to take off leaving two passengers behind
Air India never fails to surprise you, often for the wrong reasons. This incident though is in a league of its own. According to sources, ground staff of the national carrier made a hoax call on Saturday night, claiming there was a bomb on board a flight at the Amritsar airport, as the flight captain was about to take off even though two passengers were missing.
The incident occurred at the Sri Guru Ram Dass International (SGRI) Airport as Air India's flight 187 (Amritsar-Delhi-Toronto), with 139 passengers on board, had just begun its 'pre-scheduled' journey.
Sources in Air India said flight captain VK Saini had asked the ground staff to clear the aircraft early as his working hours were about to get over. Pilots can have a maximum of six flying and two non-flying hours on any given day as per the rules of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the aviation watchdog in India.
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"However, the flight, which was originally expected to take off at 10.15 pm, got delayed and was scheduled for departure at 10.45 pm.u00a0 The flight captain had an argument with the ground staffu00a0 after which he sought clearance from the Air Traffic Control (ATC) and asked crew members to prepare for take off at around 10.15 pm and began pushback," said an Air India official on the condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.u00a0 However, two passengers - identified as Ashwini and Veena - were yet to board the flight, though their luggage had been loaded.
Realising the situation, some members of the ground staff allegedly made a call to the ATC saying the flight was carrying baggage, which could have explosives inside.
"The local ATC immediately informed the pilot and asked him to abort the flight, which had by the time reached the runway. The flight was pushed back and taken to an isolated bay as per the standard operating procedure for the situation," said an official.u00a0
"All the passengers were deplaned, their baggage offloaded and rescanned. Security officials inspected the aircraft for almost four hours. Finally, the passengers were reissued the boarding passes. At around 3 am, the call was declared a hoax and the flight finally departed at 3.25 am -a delay of 5 hours - with all 141 passengers," sources said.
Later, when an investigation was launched, it was discovered that the call had been made from Air India's commercial department at the airport. "The person is yet to be identified. Voice samples of personnel present at the airport are being scrutinised," said an Air India official.u00a0u00a0
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When contacted, neither Air India Manager at Amritsar airport Shashi Kant Kaundal, nor Airport Director SK Chauhan, were prepared to comment on the issue.
Air India officials in Delhi too brushed off the issue claiming the matter has not come to their knowledge. However, sources pointed out that Air India has ordered an inquiry into the case. Director General, DGCA, EK Bharat Bhushan, said the episode will be looked into.
On board? Not quite
In February 7, 2002 a four-member gang was busted in Mumbai, which allegedly robbed passengers while they were checking-in at the Santa Cruz domestic air terminal used by private airlines. The modus operandi of the gang was to enter the terminal's departure hall either by using fake entry passes or airline tickets in which the return date is not mentioned. Once inside, the suspects used to join the queue of passengers at the check-in counter and gave an impression that they were travelling. Taking advantage of the fact that the attention of a majority of the passengers was focussed on the check-in counter, members of the gang used to open the hand baggage of passengers, which is generally kept in the metal basket near the handle of baggage trolleys. However, their luck ran out as their act was captured by the CCTV cameras.
EN route
Previously this flight used to go from Amritsar to Toronto via London, but was withdrawn in October 2010.u00a0 The flight was reinstated last month under political pressure as it is very popular. Now, the London stopover has been dropped and the flight operates on the route Amritsar-Delhi-Toronto.
Small art?
On September 26, 2009, a rat delayed a Toronto-bound Air India flight from the Amritsar airport as a rat was found inside the aircraft. Flight AI-187, was about to depart at around 6.30 am when the passengers noticed the rodent. Due to this the flight was delayed by almost seven hours.u00a0 Air India had to arrange a new aircraft to take the passengers to London and then to Toronto.
