Civil Aviation Minister asks airlines to ban Jet Airways hoax caller

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Monday asked all airlines to ban the hoax caller who disrupted a Mumbai-Delhi Jet Airways flight by giving a hijack theat.

“I am informed that person responsible for Jet flight 339 (Mum-Del) incident causing the landing at Ahmedabad today morning has been identified. I am advising the airlines to put him on the No-Fly list immediately, in addition to other statutory criminal action,” Mr. Raju said on Twitter.

This is the first time that the government has asked the airlines to put a person on a ‘no-fly list’ that was made operational last month. The passenger can face up to a lifetime ban from boarding flights for his unruly behaviour on board by both domestic and foreign airlines.

Jet Airways’ Mumbai-Delhi flight had to make an emergency landing at Ahmedabad airport on Monday after “detection of an on-board security threat.” A crew member found a printed note in Urdu and English threatening to blow up the plane mid-air unless it was diverted to PoK.

The passenger, who has been identified and was travelling in the business class of the plane, had kept the note in the aircraft lavatory, sources said.

“Jet Airways flight 9W 339 of October 30, 2017, a



Boeing 737-900 from Mumbai to Delhi, diverted to Ahmedabad following declaration of an emergency as per established security procedures, due to the detection of an onboard security threat. The aircraft landed without incident at Ahmedabad and was parked at a remote bay, where all 115 guests and 7 crew members were safely deplaned,” a Jet Airways statement said.

The flight had taken off from Mumbai at 2.55 am and after the note was discovered by the airline crew, the pilot informed the air traffic control and the plane was diverted and landed at Ahmedabad airport around 3.45 am.

The pilot pressed the hijack alert button, following which the plane made an emergency landing at the nearest airport, a Bureau of Civil Aviation Security official said.

PTI correspondent Rajkumar Leishemba, who was on board, said the flight was diverted to Ahmedabad citing “security reasons”. All the passengers deplaned and screened. They were photographed and questioned by security personnel on various details, including their last overseas visit, he said.

As per the DGCA regulations on the national no-fly list, passengers with “life-threatening behaviour” can face between a two years and a lifetime ban to board domestic and international flights.