Mexicana pilot sends errant hijack alert signal SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? The pilot of a Mexicana airline flight from Mexico City inadvertently sent a signal that someone was trying to hijack the plane, and federal authorities and police swarmed the plane when it landed in San Francisco. The "air piracy" alert code was sent Monday by accident and the 168 passengers aboard Mexicana Flight 976 were hustled away after the plane landed at 6:52 p.m at San Francisco International Airport, said Sgt. Larry Ratti. "The pilot erroneously dialed in a distress code that it was an air piracy. Naturally we take this very seriously here," Ratti said. Ratti said the pilot might have tried to undo his mistake in mid-flight, but those efforts either came up short or were met with scrutiny after the flight arrived. "One of our officers spoke to the pilot and confirmed that the situation was a mistake," Ratti said. Airport spokesman Mike McCarron gave a slightly different account, saying the pilot did not realize the code had been sent until after the plane had landed. The emergency transponder code indicating a hijack attempt would have been known only by the pilot and co-pilot, he said. Spanish speaking officers placed a ladder near the plane, climbed up and spoke with the pilot and co-pilot to confirm that there was no threat aboard, McCarron said. "This turned to be a drill for us," McCarron said. Passengers were taken off the plane after it landed at 6:52 p.m., but were held while authorities investigated. It wasn't until 9:15 p.m. that the event was officially deemed a false alarm by airport officials. Mexicana ticket counter workers said their managers were not immediately available to discuss the incident. Ratti said the mistake had nothing to do with any actions of the passengers. Some of those aboard were annoyed at the mishap. "They hold us for two hours because of a communications error," said Flight 976 passenger Margarita Contreras, of San Francisco. She had been vacationing with her husband. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.pscutt.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************