KM Special Report August 3, 2003

Saudi flight Wanted emergency landing as passenger dies onboard: Ground Staff raise false alarm, denies

Dubai - What happened on last Wednesday at a Gulf International Airport looks like joke and false alarm raised by a group of airport ground staff without knowing the "sky realities". According to airline sources, a Saudi Airline flight from Saudi Arabia on its way to Singapore wanted an emergency landing on Wednesday (morning) at a leading International Airport in one of the GCC countries. The pilot of Saudi Arabian airline pleaded with the airport authorities seeking immediate permission to land because one of the passengers, a Bengali national, died on board due to heart attack, said sources. However, the airport authorities were not convinced of the emergency situation and cordoned off the airport and called security forces to protect the airline. Fearing that some hijackers must have killed the Bengali passengers on board the Saudi Airline as part of hijack bid, the civil aviation authorities did not give permission. Many eyewitnesses were bewildered to see an airline making rounds on the skies surrounding the Airport. According to aviation sources, the Saudi Airline, which was on its way to Singapore could not land and reportedly returned to Saudi Arabia. Due to Al Quaida threat and frequent hijack bids, the local civil aviation personnel must have been worried about the whole episode. Many flights were either cancelled or postponed due to this hilarious incident.

KM Special Report August 2, 2003

Hijacked Plane's Attempt to land in Gulf Airport Disrupted Air Services

DUBAI - An International Airport in one of the Gulf countries was closed for a several hours on Wednesdy for unknown reasons. However, our sources claimed that a hijacked plane was making desperate attempt to land in the airport. Even though the hijacked plane tried to land in the Gulf country's international airport, the civil aviation authorities refused landing rights, said KM sources. According to informed sources the hijacked plane, which could not get landing permission was flying around the airport, which forced the authorities to divert all incoming and out going flights.

The airline services were totally disrupted and the official explanation was that it was due to heavy rains that caused problems to the rubberized runway. However, KM learns that the same airport and the same rubberized runway did not experience any disruption of air services during heavy rain and storm that killed at least forty people and flooded many areas adjacent to the airport.

Many observers were puzzled by the fact that a relatively small rain caused the total disruption of air services. Nothing more is known about the origin of the hijacked plan, or the where about of the hijackers, if the theory is right. It may be noted that the report could not be verified and no hijack news was reported from any other airports in the region. (keralamonitor.com)