Hot off the press:
Egypt Air cargo lands in A-I flight, Siddharth Zarabi New Delhi, October 24
An unidentified package made its way into the cargo hold of Air India 112, carrying around 400 passengers, from JFK Airport in New York to New Delhi via London on Friday night.
The Boeing 747-400 jumbo was forced to land enroute at New Foundland in east Canada after US agencies informed A-I. Admitting the lapse, an A-I spokesman said the package was offloaded at the Canadian airport. "There is no denying this. The item was bound from Egypt. Though it is a lapse, it did not endanger the aircraft".
The incident has raised a number of questions. For starters, how did an unidentified, and therefore potentially harmful, package make it aboard from a high security New York airport. US airports have the strictest security and procedures these days.
In this case, the pilot made an announcement that the flight was being diverted. A passenger told HT from London: “After four hours, the captain announced the plane was to land immediately. Everyone was stunned as people learnt that there was a security issue”.
The package, it turned out, was bound for Cairo and booked on Egypt Air. A-I said information about the package was supplied by Egypt Air but emphasised that the plane had to land as no risks could be taken.
A-I, who’s ground handling work is outsourced to a company in New York, said: “It is difficult to state who is responsible. We have one senior man there. The matter is being investigated and action will be taken”.
It will be interesting to see how the dust settles on this one.
