New Delhi, December 4
A Kanpur-bound Alliance Air flight with 42 passengers on board faced a hijack threat, which turned out be a hoax, this morning forcing the airport security agencies to take over and carry out not only an anti-hijack drill but also an anti-sabotage drill. The flight later left Delhi for Kanpur around 2.30 pm with all passengers on board.

The Delhi-Kanpur-Delhi flight CD7801 of the Alliance Air was all set at the tarmac to take off at 10.30 am when the Delhi ATC received a call that the flight could possibly be hijacked or faced a bomb threat.

According to officials of the airline, the ATC then informed the commander of the plane to shut off the engines and that the plane was under threat.

The Delhi ATC apparently received a call from the Uttar Pradesh ATC regarding the threat, which it had received over the telephone. The security took over the airport immediately after the call and the complete security drill was carried out.

The plane was towed to a remote bay where a complete check of the plane and of the passengers was carried out. However, searches yielded no results. The passengers, after a complete check, were allowed to leave the plane and were suitably taken care by the airline officials, who provided them with refreshments.

The officials said since the search yielded no results the flight with all the 42 passengers on board finally took off at 2.30 pm to return late in the evening.

Incidentally, the police and the security agencies were trying to locate the source of the information to the ATCs in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.