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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: joseph krinsky who wrote (8751)	10/27/2001 12:18:51 PM
From: GC	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27666

Saturday, October 27th 2001 Executive jet flying to Washington, D.C., diverted to Man. over hijack scare BRANDON, Man. (CP) - Nearly a dozen police cars swooped down on a runway Friday after a hijacking scare forced the emergency landing of an executive jet travelling from Japan to Washington, D.C. But the situation turned out to be the result of an equipment malfunction and after several hours on the ground, the plane was cleared to take off again and continue its journey. The flight was carrying officials with U.S. entertainment conglomerate AOL Time Warner. "When you are on the ground with a gun to your head and handcuffs being put on you, it's not what you expect when you are flying," said Bill Raduchel, AOL Time Warner's executive vice-president and one of the passengers. At one point, at least one person came off the jet with his hands raised. Brandon city police Sgt. Rick Semler said the drama began when Nav Canada, the organization responsible for providing navigation services in Canadian airspace, called airport officials to say they had received a signal from the flight indicating a hijacking. Nav Canada contacted the pilot to confirm the signal and felt the pilot's response was "inappropriate," said Semler, who didn't elaborate. "Whether it was a malfunction on the plane or a malfunction from the airport itself, we can't confirm that," said Semler. Laura Brown, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Federation Aviation Administration in Washington, said the situation resulted from "a miscommunication" between the pilots and air traffic officials. "Obviously it's in an environment where people are being quite cautious," she said. Sgt. Blair Cairns said the pilot originally wanted to go to Edmonton but was directed to Brandon instead. "We actually had our emergency response team attend," Cairns told radio station CJOB in Winnipeg. "They actually took all the people on the plane off the plane and searched them. Subsequently we interviewed them all." The plane was carrying six passengers and four flight crew - nine Americans and one Belgian. Initially, airport officials reported a military aircraft had intercepted the jet, but that was quickly denied by a spokesman at North American Aerospace Defence Command headquarters in Colorado. "NORAD was aware of the incident as it unfolded but was not requested for assistance," said Maj. Doug Martin. "No military aircraft were involved." John Christinsen, Brandon airport manager, said he was told by Winnipeg air traffic control the flight was "squawking wrong" - meaning an onboard electronic device that helps air controllers track the plane was sending out incorrect information. "The equipment malfunction could be on the plane," agreed Cairns. "Once the plane takes off here, they're going to test their equipment through the Winnipeg airport radar. If there's a problem there, they will be repairing it." The jet had previously landed in Anchorage, Alaska, for refuelling. Raduchel said there had been reports as the plane left Anchorage of a bomb scare at the Alaska airport. Raduchel said passengers were confident there was no bomb on their plane because it hadn't picked up any new passengers in Anchorage. "We knew we were fine," he said. "The biggest issue was we were sure the people here (in Brandon) were probably scared because they thought it might be a real terrorist situation. "We were scared they (police) were scared and they had guns. It was a situation that made everybody very nervous." But police acted the only way they could, said Raduchel, who praised them for their professionalism. "The people were as gracious and polite as they could be under the circumstances," he said. Corey Allum, general manager of the Brandon Flying Club, could see the plane from his office. "There's police pretty well everywhere," Allum said at the time. Allum, who has a radio in his office, could hear police communicating with the jet, asking someone on board questions. There was no evacuation order but Allum said he sent all his staff home as a precaution. A Time Warner spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment. Brandon is 200 kilometres west of Winnipeg.