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Old 20th Jul 2011, 03:14
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POWDERFINGER
 
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Orient Thai Hijacking in Changsha, China 19/07/2011

There was an interesting set of exchanges on the radio last night in Changsha, China. It developed into a hijack declaration, and I'm not sure how it ended.

Around 1540 UTC (2340 local), Orient Thai 821 was asking Changsha Tower for police assistance. They wanted cops and someone who could speak English. By 1551z, the situation had gotten worse and the captain was again asking for police assistance. All the tower could come up with was, "Confirm you want police assistance?"

Orient Thai 821 declared a hijack and requested police assistance at the top of the midnight hour (1600 UTC), and the tower replied with, "Confirm you are declaring a hijack situation?" The captain replied with "affirm, please send police, including an English speaker to talk to the cabin crew."

It is amazing, but nine minutes later nothing else seemed to have happened, and Orient Thai again declared a hijack. What did Changsha Tower respond with? You guessed it: "Orient Thai 821, confirm you are declaring a hijack on the ground?" Tower then moved the discussion to another frequency (121.95) where things continued to move at a glacial pace...

Word to the wise: don't expect immediate help in that country when a disturbance or hijack occurs. When escape is possible, make it. when release is offered, take it. If you have access to the crash axe, crack the bad guy's skull and have the cleaners haul off the remains...
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