A mock hijack was conducted at the Chennai airport on Tuesday to check the efficacy of contingency plan to handle such situations and to check the preparedness of various agencies involved during such emergencies.
An official release said under the programme an Air India flight acted as an ‘affected airline'. While it was flying on an international sector it was hijacked and diverted to Chennai.
When the aircraft landed at the Chennai airport with pilot, crew and the passengers including the hijackers, it was positioned on a designated isolated parking stand. Anti-hijacking control room was activated.
Negotiations with the hijackers were simulated by Suburban Police and at that time a few hostages were released by the hijackers. They were taken to emergency medical centre for first aid. Later they were shifted to ‘hostage reception centre', which was established at the international terminal.
The exercise lasted for nearly an hour. After the completion of exercise, a de-briefing meeting was held.
