Air India flight AI 2957 departed from New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday night. Then an emergency alert was triggered to Air Traffic Control (ATC) indicating that the aircraft was potentially hijacked, setting off a chain of protocol that would involve multiple security agencies, air traffic controllers and military forces.
The ATC responded swiftly and security agencies, including the Indian Air Force, Delhi Police, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) as well as the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) were notified. A special committee was formed and the Indian Air Force was put on high alert.
But the pilot quickly informed the ATC that it was a false alarm and that the aircraft was operating normally. Authorities were cautious and opted not to take any chances as the key concern was that the pilot might have been under duress and forced to report the situation as a false alarm.The flight landed at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at 9:47 PM where a full emergency was declared and all local police forces, including the National Security Guard (NSG), were deployed. Upon arrival, the aircraft was directed to an isolation bay, where it was carefully inspected. Once it was determined that the flight posed no danger, the passengers were allowed to disembark.
So what went wrong?
Investigators are looking into what caused the false alarm and a probe by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), along with the involvement of BCAS and CISF, is underway. A potential technical glitch is being considered, although the official cause will only be clear after the investigation ends.
