Given below are some excerpts from the The Anti-Hijacking Act, 1982.
WHEREAS a Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft was, on the 16th day of December, 1970, signed at The Hague;
AND WHEREAS it is expedient that India should accede to the said Convention and make provisions for giving effect thereto and for matters connected there with
The act was passed in order to bring the above-mentioned convention into force within India. I agree that what happened at Kochi cannot be called "hijacking" in its strict legal sense. But then the Commander used the term "hijack
like." As per the text of the Act, "intimidation" can be taken to constitute hijacking. Intimidation was allegedly used but the aircraft was not in flight hence the "like." We have to follow the law in its letter
and spirit. Should we penalize the pilot for the failure of the convention to foresee a situation where
unlawful seizure of an aircraft is initiated with the doors open? "Hijack" is just a specialized term that IMO does not cover all the actions fit to be classified as
unlawful seizure.
In any case "Intimidation", whether taking place in-flight or not, itself is a crime.
If one agrees with the argument i have given above, then the text of the Act quoted below should, IMO, seal the case in the pilot's favor.
No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of the provisions of this Act.
One can argue that the situation had not yet deteriorated to hijack like. Still if in the judgement of the commander there was reasonable threat of the situation turning "Hijack like", she did well by taking precautions. She could have done better by squawking the right code though.
_________________________________________________________
The whole situation was out of control Because the Captain, who had exceeded her flight duty time soon after landing, allegedly told the passengers that they would have to travel to Kochi on their own.
I don't think the pilot takes a call on what amenities are to be provided to passengers in such a situation. I hold the management guilty. They make policies on these matters. If the pilot did not co-operate in the execution of any such policy then there may be some questions to be asked of her. Otherwise, i don't see what she could have done other than ensure proper dissemination of information and maybe push the cabin crew a bit to go that extra mile to help the passengers.
Never they will dare to do because of the laws in UAE..... so Its the Indian Nature to become Paper Tigers when they are in Homeland.....
And that is what we should not tolerate. We have well drafted laws in India too. Enforcement is the key. If we tolerate people barging into cockpits today then we will end up emboldening these rowdies . Someday it could lead to a real hijack situation. What would we tell Capt. Waghmare then?