Angry passengers finally reach Kochi by 'hijacked' plane

October 20, 2012

pasengr


Kochi, October 20: Delayed by a hijack alert that wasn't and virtually abandoned by crew, passengers on board the Air India Express flight from Abu Dhabi vented their ire against the authorities after landing at Kochi Friday afternoon. Many vowed never again to fly Air India.

 

As the flight touched down Friday 2.50 pm, many passengers fumed over their experiences with aircraft crew and airport staff at Thiruvananthapuram. Some complained that they were beaten up by security officials at Thiruvananthapuram airport Friday morning.

 

The trouble began at the Thiruvananthapuram airport after an announcement was made that the crew's flying time was over, and the flight could not proceed to Kochi.

 

"When that announcement was made, we protested. That was all we did. We said that the crew could leave if it had done its hours, but we needed other crew members to take charge," an irate passenger said, after landing at Kochi.

 

The trouble started 7 a.m. when the flight landed at the capital city airport after it was diverted from Kochi due to bad weather. Passengers were told they would have to travel by road to Kochi.

 

Annoyed passengers protested, as the distance by road between the two cities is nearly 220 km. The passengers' anger forced the woman pilot to send an alert to air traffic control, an official said.

 

When they heard that the pilot would leave the cockpit, passengers  in the aircraft rushed to stop her.

 

Soon afterwards, the commander of the aircraft flashed a message across the country that the aircraft has been "hijacked". Authorities swung into action.

 

"The aircraft took off close to three hours late. We were not even given water to drink until today. Three passengers were beaten up by security personnel at Thiruvananthapuram airport. We will never again travel Air India Express, and we will offer the same advice to others," said a passenger after landing at Kochi.

 

Some passengers complained that they were stranded at the Kochi airport, as security officials had taken their passports.

 

"They took our passports and noted something. Most of us are on a very short holiday. Look at the soup we've landed in, for no fault of ours. The government has done nothing to come to our aid," said another passenger.

 

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has issued a statement that the police would look into the complaints of passengers and the pilot.

 

"The director general of police will look into all complaints. What happened was a natural reaction of passengers to a sudden change of schedule. All other news reports of what happened are not true," Chandy's statement read.


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coastaldigest.com news network
July 4,2020

Mangaluru, Jul 4: In the wake of mounting coronavirus cases in Dakshina Kannada, all jewellery shops district will be closed for five days from July 5 to July 9.

The decision was taken by the Dakshina Kannada district unit of Jewellers’ Association.

All the jewellery shops including corporate jewellery shops in Manglauru and other parts of district will remain closed for five days, a media release said.

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News Network
February 29,2020

New Delhi, Feb 28: They could hear shots being fired, sense smell of property and vehicles being burnt and feel the stones being pelted. Despite the mayhem that unfolded just a few steps away from their doorsteps, many Muslim households did not feel unsafe due to their Hindu neighbours during the violence in Delhi earlier this week.

Tarannum, a resident of Chand Bagh, said she cannot thank her neighbour Nem Singh enough for saving 15 members of her family that fateful night of February 25. Singh, an auto-rickshaw driver, lives right across her house.

"I could hear the thumping on the door. Our neighbour came to rescue us and assured us that no harm would come to our family, " said Tarannum who lives in lane number 7.

"We thought khayamat has come. Our kids too got scared. Those indulging in rioting are just terrorists. Hindu brothers gave us shelter and saved us. How should I say that they are Hindus or Muslims? When we were under attack, these Hindu brothers provided us safety. We should not fight, " said Tarannum while recounting the horror.

She said a mob has no face, no religion. "I want to tell everyone mob has no name, no religion. Kaun sa pathar kisne mara kisko laga pata hai kya? Pathar ne mazhab dekha kya? (Which stone was thrown by whom, who was hit, does anyone know. Stone does not have a religion," she said.

Singh said he could not bear the wailings of his neighbour's kids.

"Dar to tha par apni gali mein kisi ko pareshan nahi hone dena tha. (I too was afraid but I could not have let them hurt my neighbours)," said Singh when asked if he could have also been attacked for giving shelter to Tarannum family.

"I told them that the rioters will have to go through us first. We all were equally scared," recalled Singh.

Jameel, another local resident, said that his Hindu neighbours were even ready to sacrifice their lives to save him from the ruthless terrorists hired by pro-CAA politicians to unleash violence against Muslims.

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coastaldigest.com news network
May 13,2020

Mangaluru, May 13: Karnataka revised its standard operating procedure (SOP) for international passengers to allow pregnant women, children and senior citizens to entre home quarantine if they test negative for covid-19. 

The development comes after former minister and Mangaluru MLA U T Khader urged the government to follow the Kerala model in handling the repatriates and take extra care of pregnant women and senior citizens at Mangaluru and Bengaluru Airports.

Passengers will be initially dived into two categories. Category A includes passengers symptomatic on arrival while Category B passengers are those asymptomatic on arrival. 

While category A passengers will be directly shifted to covid-19 hospital, category B passengers will be sent to 14-day institutional quarantine.

If there are pregnant women, children below 10 years of age and senior citizens in category B, they will remain in institutional quarantine until they obtain a negative report (after throat swab testing for covid-19). It may take one or two days to get the throat swab testing report. 

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