Two men who threatened to hijack a Kulula.com airliner on Friday were arrested after the aircraft returned to the Cape Town International airport.
When the flight reached 15Â 000 feet, a cabin controller was threatened by a passenger who said he was going to hijack the plane, Stuart Cochrane, spokesperson for the airline, told the Mail & Guardian Online.
Cochrane said the man also told the crew that he had an accomplice. The cabin controller alerted the pilots, who immediately returned to the airport.
‘At no time was there any aggression or anyone harmed,†said Cochrane.
He said that the 151 passengers had safely left the plane and trauma counsellors were on hand.
‘I don’t believe he was serious at all in his threat,†said Cochrane.
Cochrane said apparently the passenger threatened an air hostess that he was going to hijack the plane. He said this could only been confirmed once the police had finished their investigation.
The Kulula flight MN 120 from Cape Town to Johannesburg — which departed at 11.11am — returned to the airport at 11.38am.
Airports Company of South Africa spokesperson Deidre Hendricks said airport operations were not affected.
Zvenyika said the flight captain followed standard procedure to ensure the safety of the passengers and aircraft after the threat was made.
A police spokesperson told the M&G Online on Friday afternoon that the two passengers started their ”unruly” behaviour shortly after the aircraft took off.
Gideon Novik, CEO of Kulula told the M&G Online that the men had made ”threatening comments” to the air crew, but that he was still unsure about what was said.
Novik said that although the threat turned out to be false, it was standard procedure to return to the airport.
”It is very unfortunate that it happened,†Novik said. ‘It is obviously a criminal offence to make such threats.â€
Novik said that the passengers were still at the airport and arrangements were being made to get them on another flight to Johannesburg.
An employee at the Juicy Lucy restaurant in the domestic terminal told the M&G Online that they were not aware of the incident.
”It’s like normal here. It’s just a busy Friday”. – Sapa