02 August,2016 07:38 PM IST | | Neha LM Tripathi
Owing to a break in standard procedure at Terminal 2, the international passengers were routed through the domestic sector without having to pass through either Immigration or Customs
A major security lapse at the Mumbai airport allowed several passengers from Dhaka to completely fly under the radar and leave the airport without clearing either Immigration or Customs.
The confusion happened as the flight was allotted an aerobridge connected to the domestic sector. Pic for representation
Thanks to a break in standard operating procedure last Tuesday, international passengers onboard Jet Airways flight 9W 275 (Dhaka-Mumbai) were sent into the domestic sector of Terminal 2, from where they directly proceeded to the baggage claim area. By the time the authorities realised the blunder, quite a few fliers had allegedly exited the airport without clearing any formalities. Faced with the task of explaining how such an embarrassing and potentially dangerous mistake came to pass, the authorities are now playing the blame game.
Additional Commissioner of Mumbai Airport Customs Rajiv Ranjan confirmed the incident but remained tight-lipped on the details. "An investigation is in process. Nothing concrete can be commented on it as of now," he said.
Not the first time
According to a senior airport official, this mistake had been repeated at least five times in the past year alone, with international fliers being shunted directly to the domestic sector. One such case took place a few months ago. "In that incident, five passengers had already left for their destinations. Immigration officials had to get in touch with all passengers to ask them to return and finish the processes," the official stated.
On July 26, even more passengers - around 10 - allegedly managed to exit the airport before the airline officials realised what had happened. One of the officials closely involved in the incident explained, "The passengers had landed at around 3.25 pm and were about to leave after collecting their bags. It was then that the airline officials informed them to move towards the other side of the terminal with the help of swing gates."
Witnesses said there was utter chaos among the airline officials when they realised that some of the fliers had already left the airport. A passenger from another Jet flight who witnessed the incident, claimed, "When the officials realised it, they immediately ran to bring back as many passengers as possible. But by that time, ten passengers had already left."
Airport sources said they are now going through CCTV footage to figure out how many passengers left without completing formalities. "It is a clear fault of the airport operator and the airline. What if someone smuggled contraband and managed to clear it because of this confusion? Whose responsibility will it be?" said another airport official.
How it happened
During landing, the flight was allotted a parking bay by the Air Traffic Control, after which the pilot was asked to get in touch with ground control - run by airport operator Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL). This is where things went wrong. Although the flight had arrived from Dhaka, it was supposed to head to Delhi, making this a mixed mode flight (international-domestic). The standard procedure for such flights is to ask passengers to alight on a remote stand. Instead, the flight was allotted an aerobridge directly connected to the domestic sector.
"At the time of disembarking, it was discovered that the aerobridge was inadvertently aligned for an incoming international flight on the domestic pier. This resulted in international guests from Dhaka proceeding towards the domestic arrivals but they were escorted back to the international section in a timely manner by the airline staff," said a Jet Airways spokesperson.
An inquiry has now been launched to confirm the exact series of events. Top officials claimed that the pilot has also been summoned in this matter.
