STIG
08-23-2006, 10:11 PM
AMSTERDAM: Northwest Airlines flight returns under F-16 escort after pilot reports ‘suspicious behaviour on board’
NEW DELHI/AMSTERDAM, AUGUST 23:A mid-air security scare sparked by “suspicious behaviour” of some passengers forced a Mumbai-bound flight to return to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport shortly after take-off today
Dutch police detained 12 passengers who were allegedly behaving suspiciously on the flight. Police spokesman Rob Staenacker said he could not disclose their nationalities. “I can tell you 12 people have been arrested,” he said.
“The Northwest airline flight, with 149 passengers on board, took off from Schiphol airport at 10.40 am (09.40 GMT) for Mumbai. However, within minutes, the pilot asked for permission to return, citing precautionary security reasons,” Schiphol airport’s spokesperson, Meriam Snoerwang, told The Indian Express over phone from Amsterdam.
“The aircraft was escorted by two F-16 fighter jets and landed at Schiphol airport at 11.35 am,” she added. “Some of the passengers have been taken in for questioning and the Dutch Border Police are investigating the matter.”
Northwest Airlines issued a statement saying the flight “returned to Amsterdam when a couple of passengers displayed behaviour of concern”.
Flight NW0042 was cancelled for the day. But the airline has already rescheduled it for Thursday and it will reach Mumbai at 8.30 pm India time.
The passengers are being accommodated at local hotels for the night.
http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ieimages/Newpics/plane-s.jpg (http://www.indianexpress.com/story/11280.html#)Earlier, several passengers on the flight were taken off the plane for questioning, and other on-board witnesses were also heard at the gate, airport spokesperson Pamela Kuypers said.
The DC-10 aircraft was supposed to land in Mumbai at 10.35 pm local time. Flying over Germany, soon after take-off, the pilot radioed Schiphol for permission to return, and asked for a military escort, she said.
Routine security measures were swiftly put into place. Customs police were investigating, and the airport authorities had no further information on the nature of the alarm, she said.
However, another report quoted a Dutch Defence Ministry statement, saying: “A number of them (passengers) behaved, in the opinion of the crew, in a suspicious manner. As a result, the captain asked to return to Schiphol. The customs police have taken a number of people off the plane for questioning.”
The Dutch National Terrorism Coordinator’s Office was informed, but said there was no reason to raise the national threat level, spokesperson Judith Sluiter said.
“It is the same as it was before — light threat,” she said. Like airports around the world, Schiphol raised the level of security two weeks ago when British police announced they had uncovered a plot to blow up several US-bound commercial jetliners, but airport spokesperson Kuypers said threat levels had returned to normal. Several alerts have been sounded since the terrorism plot was outlined in London.
link (http://www.indianexpress.com/story/11280.html)
Trying to get into mumbai to blow up some more trains.......?
NEW DELHI/AMSTERDAM, AUGUST 23:A mid-air security scare sparked by “suspicious behaviour” of some passengers forced a Mumbai-bound flight to return to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport shortly after take-off today
Dutch police detained 12 passengers who were allegedly behaving suspiciously on the flight. Police spokesman Rob Staenacker said he could not disclose their nationalities. “I can tell you 12 people have been arrested,” he said.
“The Northwest airline flight, with 149 passengers on board, took off from Schiphol airport at 10.40 am (09.40 GMT) for Mumbai. However, within minutes, the pilot asked for permission to return, citing precautionary security reasons,” Schiphol airport’s spokesperson, Meriam Snoerwang, told The Indian Express over phone from Amsterdam.
“The aircraft was escorted by two F-16 fighter jets and landed at Schiphol airport at 11.35 am,” she added. “Some of the passengers have been taken in for questioning and the Dutch Border Police are investigating the matter.”
Northwest Airlines issued a statement saying the flight “returned to Amsterdam when a couple of passengers displayed behaviour of concern”.
Flight NW0042 was cancelled for the day. But the airline has already rescheduled it for Thursday and it will reach Mumbai at 8.30 pm India time.
The passengers are being accommodated at local hotels for the night.
http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ieimages/Newpics/plane-s.jpg (http://www.indianexpress.com/story/11280.html#)Earlier, several passengers on the flight were taken off the plane for questioning, and other on-board witnesses were also heard at the gate, airport spokesperson Pamela Kuypers said.
The DC-10 aircraft was supposed to land in Mumbai at 10.35 pm local time. Flying over Germany, soon after take-off, the pilot radioed Schiphol for permission to return, and asked for a military escort, she said.
Routine security measures were swiftly put into place. Customs police were investigating, and the airport authorities had no further information on the nature of the alarm, she said.
However, another report quoted a Dutch Defence Ministry statement, saying: “A number of them (passengers) behaved, in the opinion of the crew, in a suspicious manner. As a result, the captain asked to return to Schiphol. The customs police have taken a number of people off the plane for questioning.”
The Dutch National Terrorism Coordinator’s Office was informed, but said there was no reason to raise the national threat level, spokesperson Judith Sluiter said.
“It is the same as it was before — light threat,” she said. Like airports around the world, Schiphol raised the level of security two weeks ago when British police announced they had uncovered a plot to blow up several US-bound commercial jetliners, but airport spokesperson Kuypers said threat levels had returned to normal. Several alerts have been sounded since the terrorism plot was outlined in London.
link (http://www.indianexpress.com/story/11280.html)
Trying to get into mumbai to blow up some more trains.......?