CAA happy with how false high jacking claim was handled
The South African Civil Aviation Authority on Monday indicated that they were in communication with the crew of an SA Airlink flight to ascertain exactly what led to a false hijack alert being issued.
Flight 8678 with 72 passengers and 4 crew had been en route from Cape Town International Airport and was preparing to land at Wonderboom Airport in Pretoria North when the message was transmitted.
SA Airlink later said it was a mistake.
The CAA says it's been told that the wrong button had been pressed which led to mandatory hijack response procedures being activated.
The plane landed safely but everyone was instructed to stay on board and were only allowed to disembark two hours later with their hands on their heads.
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CAA spokesperson, Phindiwe Gwebu says the response to the alert shows the country's readiness in the instance of a real hijacking.
"We are pleased that the security officials reacted and complied with the mandatory high jack response procedures when such incidents occur," Gwebu said.
She added that it was not every day that an airline in South Africa receive a threat of a high jacking.
"This is one of those times where we could get test whether our procedures and systems are working," she said.