Cops worse than hijack drama
2006-06-18 23:11
Johannesburg - Passengers on SAA 322, on which there was an attempted hijacking, said on Sunday the police task force caused more chaos on the plane when it landed than the high-altitude drama.
The flight was from Cape Town to Johannesburg and the captain returned to the Mother City after the attempted hijacking about 45 minutes into the flight.
The alleged hijacker carried a syringe in his hand and apparently insisted on being allowed into the cockpit. He said he wanted the aircraft to fly to Maputo.
Sandton property consultant John Buys said of the police task team: "They created more chaos on the ground than the hijacker did in the air.
"They cursed the entire time and told us: 'Don't look at us, look fucking down.'
Started cursing the air hostess
"One of the heroes who overpowered the hijacker in the air was slapped in the face by an official. A woman sitting behind him was also slapped."
Buys said he had been eating breakfast when he saw the air hostess passing him with the "hijacker" following right behind her.
"The 'hijacker' started cursing the air hostess and instructed her to open the cockpit door. I immediately realised something was wrong and shouted loudly '9/11 - it's a hijack'.
"The guy who sat on the other side of the aisle in my row jumped up and grabbed the hijacker around his body.
"While I was trying to loosen my belt, another man jumped up and grabbed the hijacker by the throat.
"It was a team effort. The hijacker was handcuffed, his belt was used to tie his feet and then the aircraft turned back.
"Everything was under control until we landed. The security forces frightened us.
'Acted like wild hooligans'
"I thought they would have cleared the aircraft in case someone had planted a bomb. They kept us on board.
"One of the officials walked around with the hijacker's hand luggage and placed it on the open seat next to me.
"If it had contained a bomb, we all would have been dead."
Another passenger, Yunoos Ishmail, said he had become panic-stricken while waiting on board.
"I started thinking there was a bomb or even more hijackers on board. I said goodbye to my family then.
"When the task force eventually boarded, they acted like wild hooligans.
"The man sitting next to me was hit on the head and the woman diagonally across as well.
"They made us feel like the hijackers. There was no co-ordination between the management, police or the task force," said Ishmail.
Police deny charges were laid
Buys said he knew of several passengers who had laid charges against the security forces because they had either been hit or intimidated.
Senior superintendent Elna de Beer, spokesperson for the provincial commissioner in the Western Cape, said no one had laid a charge against police officials.
She asked passengers to lay a charge if they thought the police had acted outside their authority.
Die Burger's Malani Venter and Millicent Merton reported from Cape Town that passenger Neels Brits said the attempted-hijack drama took place after breakfast.
"The man walked quickly and purposefully to the front.
"He had a device in his ear and talked all the time - as if he was talking to someone on a 'phone.
"The man wanted to enter the cockpit, but an air hostess stopped him. He started shouting and make a lot of noise."
Brits said an off-duty SAA pilot, a member of the crew and two passengers, Ian Thompson and Raymond Burke, "wrestled the man to the ground".
"The suspect was not a big guy and he was wrestled to the ground in just four minutes."
'Hijacker' looked tense, irritated
A former photographer of Die Burger, Rodger Sedres, who was also on board, said he thought it strange when the neatly-dressed man did not greet him when he sat down next to him on board the aircraft.
"He was sullen and obviously irritated. He looked tense. His cellphone rang after we were already airborne and he disconnected the call.
"The man jumped up a short while later and grabbed the air hostess."
Sedres said there was a real danger there could have been another attacker on the aircraft and the task force had done their work according to the book.
Meanwhile, there was still confusion about the man's identity late on Sunday evening, despite police investigations into attempted hijacking and assault with serious intent.
A spokesperson for the University of Cape Town, Skye Grove, said the police had given the university two different names.
They had been unable to confirm if the man was a student at UCT.
De Beer could not say if the alleged hijacker had had a doctor's letter, giving him permission to have a syringe in his possession.
A spokesperson for the Airport Association of South Africa, Charmaine Lodewyk, said the safety of passengers at the airport was of prime importance and was not taken lightly.
SAA's chief communications officer, Jacqui O'Sullivan, said all the passengers had arrived in Johannesburg about 18:20 on Saturday.
The air hostess had not been injured, but was having counselling. She declined to give more details.