Kolkata:
A Spicejet flight made a 'priority landing' in Kolkata on Wednesday after a burqa-clad passenger with a man-like physique aroused the suspicion of crew members on board.
The Delhi-Kolkata-Dhaka Spicejet flight 208 with 123 passengers on board landed at the NSC Bose Airport around noon after the pilot was given clearance by the Air Traffic Control (ATC) to make a priority landing, airport sources said.
The aircraft was immediately taken to an isolation bay and was surrounded by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, the bomb squad, fire brigade and the police, the sources said.
The burqa-clad passenger and another person sitting next to her were offloaded and the aircraft searched, the sources said.
The burqa-clad passenger, however, turned out to be a woman, the sources said.
Her large physique made the crew suspect that she was actually a man and since her identity could not be verified on board, the pilot asked for permission from the ATC to make a priority landing, the sources said.
She and the passenger sitting next to her were being questioned. Flights at the airport remained unaffected.
SanjayAggarwal, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Spice Jet said, "We werealerted about a suspicious passenger by the sky marshal on board SG208Del-CCU flight. The Captain requested for a priority landing at CCU andthe aircraft was taken to an isolation bay after landing at CCU. Theconcerned security agencies checked all the passengers and baggage onarrival and the matter is currently under investigation by the relevantauthorities. All passengers have safely disembarked and the aircrafthas been cleared for further flights."
Aggarwal said the captain of the plane requested a priority landing after being alerted about a suspicious passenger by the sky marshal on board.
The airhostesses became suspicious when they found the woman, who had a manly physique, eating without taking off her veil and passing food to her husband, the sources said.
When questioned, Irbanieva Eieonora (42) replied in Russian which the airhosteses did not know.
The airhostesses then informed a senior colleague of their suspicions who alerted the pilot.
Eieonora and her 50-year-old husband Aslan Bekov Arthur from Chechnya, who were bound for Dhaka, were taken to the office of the airport manager where they were questioned.
Both were Russian passport holders and their papers were found to be in order, the sources said.
There was no hijack threat to the SpiceJet aircraft, a Civil Aviation Ministry spokesperson said in New Delhi.
The emergency procedures, including meetings of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and the Crisis Management Group, which are followed in case of a hijack alert were not pursued, official sources said.
"The matter is currently under investigation by the relevant authorities. All passengers have safely disembarked and the aircraft has been cleared for further flights," he said.
The couple left for Dhaka on board an Air India Express flight later in the evening.
(With NDTV inputs)