The timing for an anti-hijacking drill couldn’t have been more perfect as it was held the same day Parliament passed the Anti-Hijacking Bill. But in the drill held by security agencies yesterday at the Mumbai airport a bus was used instead of an aircraft.

While some security official said the use of aircraft depends on its availability, another said the aircraft was not used to not reveal some strategies to other agencies. Colonel Mahendra Pratap Choudhary, ex-Commander, Special Group, said, “The anti-hijacking drill is performed to let all the agencies know their job during a hijack. They need to know how the airport traffic and ground activities will be controlled. This time, a bus was used for convenience. At all times an aircraft may not be available but because the agencies have to practice coordination, a bus is used as an aircraft.”