Mock hijack ends well

It took hours of negotiation before a delicate situation involving a hijacked plane that landed in Malta was resolved yesterday evening.

The sticky situation was a simulation exercise, and police and soldiers stopping drivers at roadblocks made this clear to them in order to avoid spreading alarm.

Meanwhile, the negotiating cell - manned by police and army officers who were trained at Scotland Yard - were bargaining to strike a deal with the hijackers.

The exercise started at around 8.45 a.m. when the authorities were informed that a plane with 25 passengers and four crew members, which had been hijacked by five armed men, was approaching the island.

An old engine-less plane that is used for training purposes was used for the exercise, Col Anthony Grech told The Times, adding that the practical scenario started to unfold at around 10 a.m.

Police and army personnel were posted at various points around the airfield to filter people entering the area. In fact, they were asking for persons' identification and jotting down vehicle registration numbers.

"Such an exercise is intended for everyone to know what to do if a hijacked plane really lands here and to shorten reaction times," Col Grech said. Col Grech, who is the deputy commander of the Armed Forces of Malta, has a taste of a real hijack. He was present during the 1985 Egyptair hijack when 60 people died. He explained that together with other soldiers in that bloody incident, he was posted just metres away from the plane and he was in charge of controlling any escaping hijackers.

The team also had the gruesome task of retrieving the victims' bodies.

The hijack exercise is carried out every two years but was postponed last year because of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Apart from the army and the police, a number of organisations took part in the exercise: Air Malta and British Jet, the Health Department, the Department of Information, the Foreign Ministry, the Civil Protection Department, Enemalta, Malta International Airport, the Office of the Manager Airport Security, Malta Security Services, the Corradino Correctional Facility and the Malta Air Traffic Services.