Air India plane I Source: Anna Zvereva, Flickr

New Delhi: Airports all over the country were put on high alert after Air India's operation control centre in Mumbai received a phone call threatening to hijack its plane to Pakistan following which Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) ordered all airlines and CISF to ensure enhanced security protocols. The BCAS laid down 8 rules to ensure maximum security which are:

Strict access control to regulate entry to terminal building, airside, all operational area and other aviation facilities, intensive checking of vehicles entering car parking area to preclude possibility of car bomb attacks, enhanced screening of passengers, staff and visitors including enhanced random screening at the main gate, enhanced screening and protection of hold baggage, cargo, cargo terminal, catering, emails, etc, surveillance through CCTV cameras as well as manual surveillance in and around the terminal building and operational areas, quick reaction team and perimeter patrolling to be strengthened, and manning of all cargo gates and vehicle entry gates will be strengthened with strong-armed support, reported PTI.

These new protocols were laid after the passage of Parliament passed Anti-Hijacking (Amendment) Bill in 2014 to deal with the hijacking of an airplane.

On 24 December 1999, an Indian Airlines flight (IC 814) was hijacked by Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, with tacit support from ISI, to secure the release of dreaded terrorists Maulana Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar. The crisis lasted for seven days and ended only after India agreed to release the terrorists.