Burqa-clad lady sparks terror scare on flight

A Spicejet flight on Wednesday made a 'priority landing' in Kolkata after a burqa-clad passenger with a man-like physique aroused the suspicion of crew members on board.

The Delhi-Kolkata-Dhaka Spicejet flight 208 with 123 passengers on board landed at the N S C Bose Airport in Kolkata around noon, after the pilot was given clearance by the Air Traffic Control to make a priority landing, airport sources said.

The aircraft was immediately taken to an isolation bay and was surrounded by Central Industrial Security Force personnel, the bomb squad, the fire brigade and the police, the sources said.

The burqa-clad passenger and another person sitting next to her were offloaded and the aircraft searched, the sources said. The burqa-clad passenger, however, turned out to be a woman, the sources said.

Her large physique made the crew suspect that she was actually a man and since her identity could not be verified on board, the pilot asked for permission from the ATC to make a priority landing, the sources said.

The woman, along with another passenger, was being questioned. Flight operations at the airport remained unaffected.