DNA

• 12 passengers on Mumbai-bound flight held after ‘suspicious behaviour’

WASHINGTON, Aug 24: A Mumbai-bound plane was turned back mid-way on Wednesday and returned
to Amsterdam’s Schipol airport under fighter plane escort.

Twenty minutes after the Northwest Airlines flight 42 with 149 passengers on board took off, the pilot radioed for permission to return and asked for a military escort. The Royal Netherlands Air Force sent two F-16 fighter jets to meet the plane. The plane was in German airspace at the time.

The airline said in a statement later that “a couple of passengers” aroused suspicion after “displaying behaviour of concern”.

After the plane landed, Dutch authorities detained several passengers for questioning. “We are cross-examining witnesses, passengers and crew,” a Dutch police spokesman said. Later in the night, 12 passengers were placed under arrest.

The exact nature of the security alert on board the plan was not known.

Airport spokeswoman Pamela Kuypers said that customs police were investigating and airport authorities had no further information on the nature of the alarm.

A Northwest spokesperson from the airline’s headquarters in Minnesota told DNA that Amsterdam-Mumbai flights will resume on Thursday after a one-day suspension.

The Amsterdam-Mumbai flight will leave at 9am and reach Mumbai at 8:30pm. The cancelled Mumbai-Amsterdam flight will leave on Friday at 10:30am.