Security test aboard plane backfires

United Press International
Dec. 01, 2006

ULAN BATOR, Mongolia, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- An anti-hijacking exercise aboard a civilian aircraft in Mongolia's capital went awry because the passengers and crew weren't alerted ahead of time.

The security exercise by the Mongolian Central Intelligence Agency upset passengers and wound up being played out live on television, the Daily Mail said. The incident started after a jet operated by MIAT, the national airline, landed and four male passengers jumped from their seats, announcing the plane was being hijacked.

"These hooligans went up to pilot's cabin and tied up the pilots and threatened four passengers and kept them in the plane. They hit one woman," a passenger told the Daily Mail.

The woman was not seriously hurt.

A lawmaker from the Democratic Party said citizens "should not be intimidated" because of a security exercise, adding that both security and aviation agencies were vague when asked whether a hijacking occurred.

Another Democratic Party lawmaker said passengers and crew should have been warned that a security exercise would be conducted.

The Mongolian Central Intelligence Agency defended the exercise, saying it exposed holes in security at the airport in Ulan Bator.