Sky marshals scheme to cover all airlines

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 5: In the aftermath of the Indian Airlines hijacking incident, the Government on Wednesday decided to expand the `sky marshals’ scheme to cover all airlines and flights on random basis with the pilot in command continuing to be the commander of the aircraft. The sky marshals shall be part of the crew and handle situations as per operational requirement with use of arms being the ultimate resort.

These were the decisions taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Civil Aviation Minister Sharad Yadav to review the security arrangements at domestic and international airports. An official release said with the introduction of sky marshals scheme, the pilot in command will have special responsibilities under the Tokyo, The Hague and Montreal conventions with regard to unlawful acts on board the aircraft. The meeting decided that red alert and additional security measures should be uniformly applicable to all airports.

While access to airports would be restricted, frisking of passengers andhand baggage would be given highest priority with restriction of hand baggage, ladder point frisking and sample physical checking of hand baggage upon entry into sterile area, the release said.