Air India Airbus A330
Habib Hussain moved to Medina, Saudi Arabia six months ago to get a job providing airline services through a private agency. Hussien was working aboard an Air India Airbus A330 prepping to head to Jaipur, India. He was not happy with his current situation and wanted to go home, however the company he worked for had his passport. He decided to lock himself in the bathroom and catch a free and illegal flight back home.
About 30 minutes into the flight he came out of the bathroom and sat down in a vacant seat. On a normal flight he might have been able to blend in, but this was a special Haj flight and he stood out in his overalls. Once he was detected he was frisked by airline personal and found not be a safety threat. The pilot decided to continue on to their final destination, however officials were waiting for Hussain once the plane landed.
Every international flight is supposed to thoroughly checked the aircraft and complete a headcount. Air India has stated it is not a common practice to check for stowaways.
“Only authorized personnel enter an aircraft for maintenance after clearing security checks in the sterile airport zone. Pilots announce before takeoff that all ground personnel must deplane. There is no practice of checking toilets or under seats to look for hidden passengers. The boarding card stub taken from passengers at the aircraft ladder is used to do a headcount with people seated inside. This is what airlines do,” said Air India spokesman Jitendra Bhargava.
Hussain was checked by security to be able to work on the aircraft. It is most likely Hussain will stay in India, but might face charges for his bathroom stunt.
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Source: The Times of India Image: Magnum78 fr via Flickr
