An AirAsia flight en route to Srinagar from Delhi was on Sunday morning diverted to Chandigarh when the pilot inadvertently sent a hijack alert to the air traffic control by mistake when she detected a technical glitch in the plane engine, triggering panic among security agencies. The plane, carrying 175 passengers and six crew members, made an emergency landing in Chandigarh at 7.35am. The passengers were later flown to Srinagar by another flight, officials said. When contacted, Air Asia said the flight had encountered a technical problem en route. “The crew took all necessary actions and the flight had to be diverted to Chandigarh. We are working with regulatory bodies to assist with the investigation of this incident,” said an airline spokesperson. “The flight from Chandigarh to Srinagar departed at 4.40pm the same day. We reiterate that we place safety and security foremost in all aspects of operations and apologise for the inconvenience caused,” the airline said in a statement. The flight I5-715 had departed from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi at 6.30 am. After around 30 minutes, the pilot realised that there was a technical glitch in the engine but pressed the hijack code by mistake; however, security agencies were alerted by then and the standard operating procedure after hijacking had rolled out.
