By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The various law enforcement agencies have on Thursday night conducted a security operation of a FlySafair aircraft from Cape Town International Airport (CTIA) following a possible security threat aboard the aircraft, said Airports Company South Africa (Acsa).
The flight was heading to O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB) in Johannesburg when the crew was alerted to the threat.
Authorities have safely evacuated all passengers and crew members, and the South African Police Service (SAPS) Bomb Squad and aviation security personnel are sweeping the aircraft.
“Passengers and crew have safely disembarked, and a thorough sweep of the aircraft is under way. The safety and security of all involved remains a top priority, with measures being taken to mitigate any risks associated with the threat,” said an Acsa statement.
“The safety and security of the passengers and crew are of utmost importance. All passengers and crew have safely disembarked the flight,” said Mark Maclean, ACSA Regional General Manager, Cluster 2.
“We would like to praise the airline for their prompt response to what was a serious security concern, and we also laud the combined efforts of the SAPS and AVSEC in upholding the safety and security of passengers and cabin crew.”
ACSA said that the incident was an isolated incident triggered by comments made by two passengers aboard the aircraft.
“It must be made clear that the incident was isolated to a specific aircraft, and SAPS have since declared the aircraft safe. The passengers were rebooked onto another flight and later arrived safely at their destination.”
“We can confirm that two suspects were apprehended and that there are no further risks to airport operations.”
“Airport management on site would like to assure passengers and stakeholders that operations at CTIA have not been impacted by the incident and that the airport is operating as normal this morning.”