‘Hijacking’ was technical glitch says SA Airlink
SA Airlink confirms wrong signal was sent out.
MORE details have emerged after reports of an SA Airlink flight being hijacked on Monday. According to Marshall Security’s Kyle van Reenen, technical problems led to the wrong distress signal being sent out. Media outlets and Twitter were abuzz with news the flight had been hijacked in the air.
“Technical problems resulted in the flight having to be re-routed. Highjack distress signal indicated after landing. But it was due to technical glitch,” he said
According to SA Airlink the signal was an anomaly.
“We confirm that hijack alert for SA8678 on 11 July 2016 from CT to Wonderboom appears to be an anomaly. 72 passengers & 4 crew members safe.”
The plane was travelling from Cape Town and landed at Wonderboom Airport.
There were apparently 70 people on board and four crew.
Airlink hijacking at Wonderboom is a false alarm. Apparently the radar sent out the wrong signal. #BREAKING
— Aki Anastasiou (@AkiAnastasiou) July 11, 2016
We confirm that hijack alert for SA8678 on 11 July 2016 from CT to Wonderboom appears to be an anomaly. 72 passengers & 4 crew members safe.
— Airlink (@Fly_Airlink) July 11, 2016
✈️ ALERT: SA Airlink plane mistakenly sent hijack distress signal due to technical glitch. Hijacking reportedly not real.
— Gauteng Weather (@tWeatherSA) July 11, 2016
