New Delhi:
A Delhi court has convicted a man named Jitender Mohalla for his lead role in a hijack drama on a flight from Goa to Delhi in 2009.
Mr Mohalla will be sentenced later today. The prosecution has asked for life imprisonment for him.
Mr Mohalla and two other passengers of an Indigo flight had claimed to be armed.
The crew sent a hijack alert which created a massive security drill at the Delhi airport. The pilot made an emergency landing and was isolated for several hours till Mr Mohalla's warning was declared a hoax.
Today's verdict comes as six passengers of an Air India flight are being questioned about allegedly forcing their way into the cockpit of their plane last week after it landed in Thiruvanathapuram instead of Kochi. The pilot, Captain Rupali Wagmhare, has said in a police complaint that the passengers threatened to kill her co-pilot and her if they tried to deplane. Captain Waghmare and the crew's shift had ended. The airline wanted to bring in a replacement crew to fly the passengers, who had boarded the plane in Abu Dhabi, to Kochi. The flight had been diverted because of bad weather.
The Kerala government has indicated its support for the passengers, accusing Air India of harassing them. The passengers deny that they threatened or assaulted the pilot, or that they entered the cockpit.
The cockpit voice recorder of the aircraft has been submitted to the regulator of civil aviation, the DGCA. The recordings will help piece together what transpired between the pilot and the passengers.