The reaction of South African Airways (SAA) to Saturday’s attempted hijacking showed that the airline’s emergency policies and procedures were adequate to the task, SAA boss Khaya Ngqula said on Monday.
”All the rules were adhered to. Everybody was safe. Everybody reached their final destination. Nobody lost a parent. Nobody lost a child,” Ngqula, the airline’s CEO, said.
He said SAA was ”very sorry” that the incident took place, but thanked the public and passengers on SA322 for being calm during the incident, the first since 1972.
”I hope another 30 years go by before we have another one,” he said.
Ngqula said that SAA’s reaction to the incident was partly because they had learnt several lessons from their reaction to last year’s crippling strike at the airline.
”We did not have all our ducks in a row,” Ngqula said of the strike.
Reacting to comments made by some passengers unhappy with their treatment during and after the incident, Ngqula said that in cases of hijackings someone was bound to be unhappy.
”From the moment an aircraft is hijacked, it is a military zone. The security forces take charge.”
Flight SA322 pilot Captain Neville Reed said they monitored the entire incident on closed circuit television and were able to keep track of events in the passenger cabin.
”Before they [fellow passengers] tackled the person [the hijacker], we had already declared an emergency and turned back to Cape Town.”
SAA spokesperson Jacqui O’Sullivan said the 21-year-old Zimbabwean who attempted to hijack the aircraft by taking an air hostess hostage was overwhelmed by SAA Captain Neil Hodgkins, who was travelling as a passenger on the aircraft, and two other travellers.
Ngqula praised Hodgkins’s conduct at the press conference in Johannesburg on Monday afternoon.
The slightly built Zimbabwean University of Cape Town (UCT) student, Tinashe Rioga (21), appeared briefly in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on Monday in connection with the alleged aircraft hijacking attempt.
In court, Rioga said he would like the court to assist him in initially applying for legal aid.
”My family will finalise arrangements,” he said.
Rioga, who allegedly wielded a hypodermic syringe during the incident, faces a charge of contravening aviation regulations in that he attempted ”to seize [an] aircraft in flight”.
He also faces a charge of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
Magistrate David Tomisi postponed the matter to June 26 for further bail information.
‘Their safety was the primary concern’
Earlier on Monday, the police defended the conduct of the special task force (STF) aboard the plane.
”Obviously, from the police side, it is regrettable that some passengers feel they have been traumatised, but at the end of the day their safety was the primary concern,” spokesperson Director Sally de Beer said.
Newspapers reported on Monday that some passengers aboard the flight on Saturday were sworn at and slapped by police when they came aboard the aircraft after it had landed at Cape Town International airport.
De Beer explained that the STF’s primary function was to deal with high-risk operations that could not be dealt with effectively by other units of the police.
”This would include hostage situations on land, sea or in the air as well as incidents of urban or rural terrorism.
”I can’t really speak about this specific incident as debriefings are still going on and some of it is court-directed evidence, but our standard operating procedures [SOP] are such that, where there are hostages on a plane, the STF will always be first aboard to secure the plane and ensure the safe evacuation of passengers,” De Beer added.
”… and when they board that plane they can never make assumptions such as that there was only a single hostage taker, acting alone. There could be a sleeper among the passengers that will only become active when all their other plans have failed.
”STF members have to dominate the situation from the moment they board and our SOPs are in line with international standards.
”People complained about them shouting, but this is SOP for verbal dominance — passengers to look down and lean forward with hands over their heads — there are tactical reasons for doing this.
”It must be understood that compliance with instructions in this type of situation is of paramount importance,” De Beer said.
She said she was not aware of any formal complaints against the police by passengers, but added that Western Cape police would be in a better position to know if there were any.
Provincial police spokesperson Inspector Bernadine Steyn said she had spoken to officers at the airport police station and no complaints had been lodged there after the incident.
A staffer at the Independent Complaints Directorate in Cape Town said she was unaware of any complaints. — Sapa