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India launches 'sky marshals' plan after hijack

NEW DELHI: India said on Thursday that it would step up security at airports across the country and put "sky marshals" aboard flights on a random basis following last week's hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane.

The government said in a statement that the new regime was decided during a high-level security review headed by Minister of Civil Aviation Sharad Yadav.

"The minister underscored the imperative of initiating measures for beefing up the security at airports in order to instil confidence among the domestic as well as international passengers," it said.

The review came after an Indian Airlines flight with 189 people on board was hijacked on Christmas Eve on a run from the Nepali capital Kathmandu to New Delhi.

The plane touched down briefly in India, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, where 27 passengers and the body of a man who had been stabbed to death were released.

It then took off again and landed at Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, where - almost a week later - the remaining passengers and crew were freed after India agreed to release three militants from jails in Kashmir.

The statement said that among the security measures to be introduced at airports, frisking of passengers and hand baggage inspection would be given highest priority and some x-ray machines would be replaced with new ones.

A "sky marshals" scheme, which would put armed commandos on board flights, would cover all airlines and flights on a random basis and flight attendants would be given anti-hijacking training.

Commercial airline pilots had raised objections to a "sky marshals" scheme when it was mooted earlier in the week, saying that it could undermine the commander of an aircraft and risk what one described as a "battlefield in the sky".

However, the government sought to allay such fears by affirming the pilot's overall command and stressing that the use of arms would be a last resort.

"The sky marshals shall be part of the crew and handle situations as per operational requirements, with use of arms being the ultimate resort," it said.-Reuters