SECURITY agencies are planning to impart special training to airline officials to rein in threat calls which have shown an increase over the past few months. This, according to sources, will help avoid unnecessary panic resulting out of ineffective handling of such calls.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which is responsible for the security at airports, has recommended to the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to introduce a training programme for airline call centre executives as well as those working at airports.
“During the evaluation of these calls, it was found that call centre executives interpreted them in incorrect ways. We have recommended to the BCAS to give them a set of questions which they need to pose to the caller. It will help them assess how serious the threat is,” said a senior CISF officer.
Last week, a call was made to the IndiGo Airline call centre, saying saying there were a few rogues on a Delhi- Hyderabad flight ( 6E- 307).
“ But the airline told us there were arms and ammunition in the aircraft. A search was conducted leading to panic among the passengers. When we examined the transcript of the call, there was no mention of arms and ammunition. We have also found that in most of the cases, there was no cross- questioning from the side the of call centre executive. Cross- questioning helps assess whether the caller is serious or not,” he added.
The CISF has prepared a set of at least 10 questions that will be placed at the desk of all call centre executives dealing with airport- related queries.
“The questions have been framed with the help of experts. Executives will be trained to ask these questions to know the caller’s intention,” the officer said. Some questions to be asked by airline executives are — ‘Where are you calling from?’ ‘Where is the bomb (or suspected item) placed?’ ‘What kind of device is it?’ etc.
“With these questions, a call centre executive will be able to obtain relevant information regarding the potential troublemaker.
The officer will then use this information to determine if the affected area warrants a bomb search. After the completion of the call, the executive needs to fill a form,” a BCAS official said.
In case of threat call, every security agencies follow a standard procedure. After receiving the call, a bomb threat assessment committee is formed to monitor the situation. The flight, with all passengers, is taken for a recheck inside the isolation bay. Passengers are taken off and the entire plane and luggage put up for rechecking. If the threat is serious, the aircraft will be surrounded by CISF and National Security Guard commandos.
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