Airhostess held taking liquor from wrong channel

After getting three bags registered,the airhostess,with the help of an Indian Airlines loader,put the fourth bag carrying four bottles of liquor on the conveyor belt used for registered baggage,a source at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport said. The loader,the source added,then put an old security tag on the bag and walked towards the aircraft to hand it over to the airhostess as hand baggage.

Confirming the episode,Indian Airlines spokesperson S Chandra Kumar said,“An inquiry will be conducted into the incident.”

A senior CISF official said a CISF official on duty noticed the loader when he was on way to give the piece of luggage to the airhostess,who was by then inside the aircraft. “The loader was detained before entering the aircraft. The crew member (airhostess) was also de-boarded and detained.”

The CISF official said the case is a glaring instance of security lapse at a time of high-threat perception in the country,particularly in the aviation sector. “Knives,pistols and other weapons are permissible to be carried as part of registered baggage — something you do not have access to inside the aircraft,” the official said. “But with such planned lapses,one can even try to take weapons on board.”

Calling it a “major security lapse”,the official said,“It was wrong for the crew member to attempt to take registered baggage into the cabin.”

The issue has been referred to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and an inquiry will be conducted on the motive of the airhostess for conniving with the loader.