Pretoria - Passengers who flew into Wonderboom Airport from Cape Town on Monday spoke of the different emotions they experienced after a South African Airlink flight was mistakenly reported to have been hijacked.
Flight SA8678, which had 72 passengers and four crew members on board, flew in from Cape Town and landed at the Pretoria Wonderboom Airport at around midday before it was halted on the runway following reports that it had been hijacked.
SA Airlink later confirmed that the alert sent out from the plane was incorrect and described it as an “anomaly”.
Passengers who spoke to the media after a three-hour wait, said they experienced emotions ranging from panic to trauma after learning about the incorrect signal that had been sent out.
Shann Knott, who had travelled to Cape Town for a holiday with her daughter Jacqui, said they felt calm at all times despite reports of a hijacking scare circulating across social media platforms.
“The pilot could not tell us what was happening but we had an idea of what was happening. At all times the passengers were not panicking and there definitely was no mass hysteria,” she said.
The situation was under control, despite events around them.
Her husband, Howard, said the situation was scarier while waiting for his wife and daughter. He said they were told that the delay was caused by a technical problem but grew concerned as time passed on. “The plane landed at about 12 and never came in and was still parked on the runway and I thought something must be wrong,” said Knott.
“They said there was a technical problem on the runway and 20 minutes later there was still some technical problem. Pretty soon the police task team started arriving and I realised that this was not a technical problem,” he said.
He explained that Airlink referred to the problem as a “technical problem” but after three hours of waiting, his wife and daughter were still on the plane.
“All the people who had been waiting were in the dark so were people in the plane. Thankfully everyone was safe.”
He said it was a difficult situation to be in as information was not forthcoming. “If you hear someone saying it’s a technical problem you are okay, but if you hear that it was a hijacking or police are looking for a suspect, especially after not getting any feedback after three hours, you start to panic.”
Another passenger, Rofhiwa Mudau, said he panicked after receiving mixed reports throughout the three-hour ordeal. “We didn’t receive any word on what was happening and people were panicking. That was when they switched on their phones and got information about what was happening and read reports that the plane had been hijacked,” said Mudau.
He said the pilot told them that there was a faulty signal that was sent out indicating the plane had been hijacked.
“I was scared and panicking because I didn’t know what was happening, because the plane was just on the runway and anything could have happened. The lack of information made us uncertain,” said Mudau.
Meanwhile, the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has expressed its satisfaction about the procedures followed by officials to deal with the false hijacking alarm.
The Avro RJ aircraft from Cape Town to Pretoria’s Wonderboom Airport emitted an anomalous hijack alert through its transponder and caused panic.
The incident also sparked fears on social media when reports surfaced of an apparent hijacking of the flight, with some threatening to cancel their bookings.
SA Airlink confirmed the passengers, crew and aircraft were safe and on the ground at Wonderboom Airport. Authorities held the aircraft as a prescribed precautionary measure.
SACAA spokesperson Kabelo Ledwaba said the steps taken by authorities demonstrated the state of readiness of the various South African civil aviation and other State agencies when faced with a potential threat.
“The SACAA thus commend all officials who immediately activated their emergency procedures upon learning of the alert,” said Ledwaba.
“When the aircraft landed at Wonderboom Airport, the police’s hijack response team conducted the necessary checks to ascertain that indeed the aircraft had not been hijacked,” said Ledwaba.
SA Airlink spokeswoman Karin Murray said the company would assist the investigating authorities with their inquiry, which is a mandatory step following such an incident.
“Airlink has also initiated an internal investigation into the erroneous transmission,”said Murray.
Pretoria News