Flyer7SA
Active member
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2001
- Posts
- 39
A hijacking scare at SFO turned out to be a simple mistake -- a pilot dialing the wrong number.
It started when a Mexicana Airlines flight from Mexico City had radio problems Monday night. The pilot dialed the plane's location transponder to what the thought was the code for radio trouble.
"The code is similar to the one for hijacking," said Mike McCarron, airport spokesperson. "So when he entered that code it came up as a hijack, and when the air traffic controllers tried to contact the aircraft, he couldn't hear them because he was having radio problems. So that got everyone's attention very quickly."
After the plane landed, police sent it to a far corner of the tarmac. They took the pilot off the plane with his hands in the air, and passengers were kept on the aircraft for more than two hours.
--Flyer7SA
It started when a Mexicana Airlines flight from Mexico City had radio problems Monday night. The pilot dialed the plane's location transponder to what the thought was the code for radio trouble.
"The code is similar to the one for hijacking," said Mike McCarron, airport spokesperson. "So when he entered that code it came up as a hijack, and when the air traffic controllers tried to contact the aircraft, he couldn't hear them because he was having radio problems. So that got everyone's attention very quickly."
After the plane landed, police sent it to a far corner of the tarmac. They took the pilot off the plane with his hands in the air, and passengers were kept on the aircraft for more than two hours.
--Flyer7SA