A mistake during a verbal exchange between a Qantas airline pilot and the control tower at Melbourne Airport led to the rapid deployment of a hijacking response team. The pilot inadvertently said the code word used to report a hijacking, causing the control tower to call in emergency services and the police.

Although the control tower reported the false alarm before the plane landed, officials insisted on putting the plane in quarantine and checking it before allowing it to take off. This pilot is obviously going to get into alot of trouble over the matter. It could have been a mistake but there’s a difference between a normal mistake such as forgetting to turn off the seatbelt sign and calling in reinforcements because of a hijacking.

Considering some places’ policy on false alarms, we’re wondering if the pilot will be forced to pay for the costs of assembling the team and searching the plane or if they’re just gonna write it off.

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