Indian plane reported hijacked

Indian airport authorities said on Thursday they had reports that an Alliance Air aircraft had been hijacked on the way from Bombay to New Delhi.

Air traffic controllers said the plane had landed safely in Delhi. One air traffic controller said there were 52 people on board, including six crew.

About 100 policemen, a dozen ambulances and fire engines gathered at the airport. "An Alliance plane from Bombay to New Delhi has been hijacked," Brijender Shekhar, an official at the Air Traffic Control at Delhi airport, told Reuters.

"I have got a message that the last flight from Bombay, an Alliance Air flight, has indeed been hijacked. I am checking on these reports," Indian Airlines chairman Sunil Arora told Reuters.

"No one can confirm or deny what's happening. Only the ATC (Air Traffic Control) can tell what is going on," an officer at the Airport Police Control Room told Reuters.

A police officer said the aircraft had been surrounded by commandos of the elite National Security Guard.

The airport was not closed and planes were taking off as usual. Alliance Air is a subsidiary of state-owned Indian Airlines.

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