Kolkata, Jul 20 (PTI) A night-long joint counter-hijack and counter-terrorist exercise was conducted at the Kolkata airport by the National Security Guard (NSG), the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said on Sunday.
The full-scale drill was planned and coordinated with various other stakeholders and agencies to evaluate preparedness in the event of a complex security threat.
The exercise began on Friday night and concluded in the early hours of Saturday.
As part of the drill, a simulated hijack scenario involving an A320 aircraft with crew and 75 dummy passengers was initiated when the Air Traffic Control received an emergency call from the “hijacked” aircraft, the AAI said in the statement on Sunday.
The Aerodrome Committee was immediately convened, and the aircraft was positioned at the Isolation Bay for containment.
CISF Quick Reaction Teams cordoned off the aircraft while officers from the Intelligence Bureau and the Ministry of Home Affairs engaged in negotiations with the hijackers to de-escalate the situation. Upon failure of negotiations, the NSG’s Counter Hijack Task Force (CHTF) launched a coordinated operation to storm the aircraft.
The operation resulted in the successful “rescue” of all dummy passengers and crew, and the “elimination” of the simulated hijackers. This phase of the exercise concluded at 2.15 am on Saturday, the statement said.
Simultaneously, a counter terrorist exercise was initiated around 9 pm on 18 July 2025, simulating an armed attack on AAI operational offices, where 12 staff members were taken hostage, and the building’s power supply was disabled.
State Police Special Task Force (STF) cordoned off the area and attempted entry but encountered heavy resistance and simulated casualties.
Following the conclusion of the hijack scenario, the NSG Task Force was deployed to handle the hostage crisis. After a detailed briefing from the STF, the NSG team executed a coordinated tactical operation, neutralised six simulated terrorists, and successfully rescued all hostages. This operation concluded at 4.25 am on Friday, the AAI statement said.
The participation and coordination among AAI, CISF, ATC, Airlines, West Bengal Police, IB, MHA, and NSG ensured the overall success of the exercise, it said. PTI SBN NN
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