New Delhi, Jan. 29 -- At 8.40pm on Monday night, Air India's Mumbai-bound flight AI 2957 which had just taken off from New Delhi's Indira Gandhi airport sent an emergency signal to air traffic control (ATC) in the Capital, suggesting it had been hijacked.

Delhi ATC immediately set in motion a protocol that requires alerting the destination airport, security agencies, the Indian Air Force. A central committee, comprising representatives from Delhi police, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which is responsible for airport security, Airports Authority of India (AAI), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and the Air Force was formed.

Although the pilot informed ATC that it was a false alarm, there was no let up in the protocol. ...