Hijack letter found on Mumbai-Delhi Jet Airways flight, plane diverted to Ahmedabad for screening

A Jet Airways Mumbai-Delhi flight was diverted to Ahmedabad during the wee hours of Monday after the crew found a ‘hijack’ letter in the plane’s washroom post take off.

The flight with 122 passengers, including seven crew, landed safely in a remote bay at the Ahmedabad airport, all passengers were disembarked and screened.

An airline official said the security issues pertained to a potential hijack and bomb threat. The pilot alerted Ahmedabad airport authorities about the threat.

A typewritten note threatening to hijack the plane was found inside the flight’s lavatory after take off, following which security protocol was followed. The note said hijackers were onboard and that the cargo area contained explosives.

The Boeing 737-900 flight 9W-339 had departed from Mumbai around 2:55 am and after diversion, landed in Ahmedabad around 3:45 am.

The Jet Airways statement said the flight was diverted following “declaration of an emergency as per established security procedures, due to the detection of an onboard security threat”.

“We are extending full cooperation to the security agencies who are investigating the matter and are not in a position to comment further at this stage,” it said.

After landing, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel at Ahmedabad conducted extensive checks of the baggage, passengers and the aircraft. The agency responsible for dealing with hijack scenarios was also called in to monitor the situation.

The flight was allowed to depart after a seven hours of thorough checks.

Meanwhile, CISF and the Ahmedabad police are making further enquiries to trace the source of the letter.

The typed note, in Urdu and English, read, “Flight number 9W 339 is covered by hijackers and aircraft should not land and be flown straight to POK. 12 people on board. If you put landing gear you will hear people dying. Don’t take it as a joke. Cargo area contains explosives and will blast if you land in Delhi. Allah is great.”