Alliance Air To Lay Off Hijacked Flight Crew

The management of Alliance Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Indian Airlines has decided to lay off the entire crew of flight CD-7444.

"The management of Alliance Air has decided not to utilise the entire crew of flight CD-7444, consisting of the commander, co-pilot and the four air hostesses for flight duties," the ministry of civil aviation said in a release issued on Saturday. The duration for which the decision would apply has, however, not been specified.

The Alliance Air flight CD-7444 which left Mumbai at 11 pm on October 10 soon after which a specific incident involving an "aggressive passenger" triggered a chain of events and the airline was announced, by the minister of civil aviation Shahnawaz Hussain, to have been hijacked.

Almost four hours later however, Hussain announced that it had been a false alarm following a miscommunication between the Ahmedabad ATC and the pilot of the aircraft.

The government has already appointed a committee under the special secretary - home affairs, S B Mohapatra, to investigate the mishap.