NEW DELHI: Soon after touching down at Delhi Airport around 10.30 am Saturday with Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) representatives Abhijeet Dipke, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka on board, the pilots operating AI 2428 were asked to head to a remote bay instead of a parking stand that is connected to an aerobridge. As directed by air traffic control, the ex-Vistara Airbus A320 (VT-TQL) headed to a bay closer to the international wing of T3 and parked there.Then, sources say, the pilots were informed that a team of security personnel would board the aircraft. A passenger stair car (vehicle with a step ladder) got attached and a team of Delhi Police personnel boarded the aircraft and went to the row where CJP representatives were seated. They asked the three to accompany them as they were being detained.“I have come here to be arrested; arrest me,” Dipke is heard telling the police team in videos shot inside the aircraft. The police personnel are heard responding: “No, this is not an arrest. Please cooperate.” Once the security personnel and the three CJP representatives left the aircraft, the process began for other passengers who had to remain seated for 10-15 minutes to do so. With changed wind direction, aircraft at that time were landing from Dwarka side (this one touched down on IGIA’s fourth runway 11L/29R) and it takes a much longer taxi to reach T3 as they land towards Shivji statue side and then taxi back towards the terminal from taxiway.
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Air India did not comment on what happened onboard AI 2428. While it is not uncommon for criminals and unruly passengers to be escorted out of aircraft after landing by security agencies, political or social activists getting this treatment is not something that happens frequently.Bay allocation is done by the airport operator, in this case Delhi International Airport Ltd. In “special circumstances” like that Saturday, govt agencies can direct the operator to allocate a remote bay to aircraft. That also happens to aircraft for which a bomb threat has been received.Pilots of AI 2428 were asked to proceed to the remote bay after they landed. Air traffic control guides pilots to the bay they have been allocated by asking them to take taxiway routings.“Aviation in general and airports in particular operate in a highly regulated environment. We just get instructions from govt agencies from time to time and have to follow them,” said aviation industry long timers.