China Southern Participates In Anti-Hijacking Drill

China Southern Airlines announced Thursday it has fully participated in the first-ever anti-hijacking drill staged at the new Baiyun International Airport (right). The large-scale drill was held recently at the Guangzhou airport, and was carried out by the newly created Guangdong Province Anti-Hijack Team. 

"We were honored to have fully participated in this important security operation that -- although we pray the day never comes -- it may one day help save many lives," said Mr. Si Xian Min, President, China Southern Airlines.

Realism was key to the drill, according to China Southern. The mock-hijacking was held during a recent weekday morning, when four simulated terrorists "hijacked" an in-flight China Southern Airlines Boeing 757 aircraft with 120 passengers on-board.

The hijackers initially demanded the pilot fly them to another country but because the plane was said to be low on fuel, it was forced to "land" at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.

Hundreds of armed police immediately closed the runway and surrounded the aircraft. Real-world tension was built between police as the gun-and-bomb-wielding "terrorists" as they held their frightened "hostages" at gunpoint.

Moments later, the Guangdong Province Anti-Hijack Team received an emergency call from Baiyun International Airport where it was reported that a China Southern Airlines Boeing 757 aircraft had been "hijacked" by four terrorists just after the aircraft took off from a Mainland city. The pilot told the team that the plane had landed at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport as it was quickly running out of fuel. He further reported that there were three male and one female "terrorists" on board and believed that the hijackers were armed and had laced the aircraft’s interior with explosives.

In all, more than 800 law enforcement representatives from more than 10 different organizations including the Armed Police Force Corp, Guangdong Province Public Security Agency; Central and South China Air Traffic Management Bureau; General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) and China Southern Airlines -- together with two helicopters and more than 80 automobiles -- joined in the mock crisis emergency simulation.

As the "hijacked" China Southern Aircraft landed at Baryon International Airport, the armed Anti-Hijack Team quickly besieged the runway. Two police helicopters were immediately dispatched and circled over the tarmac, while fire engines and ambulances were standing by at the ready.

During the exercise, one of the "terrorists" took a male passenger hostage -- and moments later, in full view, pantomimed shooting that passenger to death. The hijacker even used a blank gun cartridge, to build what China Southern called "real-life tension."

That was the final straw for the Anti-Hijack Team. Covered by other law enforcement teams, the armed police quickly rushed to the right side of the jet -- and seconds later, with a triggered "explosion" of the forward and rear cabin doors, the armed force stormed the cabin. They "shot" two of the terrorists, and seized another.

Unfortunately, one of the male terrorists managed to mingle with other passengers... but he wasn't able to hide for long.

After the police seized control of the aircraft, the crew immediately dispatched passengers safely down an evacuation chute while demolition experts immediately inspected the cabin and found mock-bombs squirreled away by the hijackers, which were safely removed and destroyed far down the tarmac.

It was then a police dog sniffed out the last of the escaping terrorists among the passengers, and the police immediately brought him down, as fire engines, ambulances, and police cars raced to the aircraft. Helicopters transported simulated "patients" to nearby hospitals.

"Like the Boy Scouts, one cannot be well prepared enough," said Mr. Si about the exercise.

FMI: www.cs-air.com/en