May 19 :     As politicians scampered to distance themselves from the 'hijack' of an Alliance Air flight by a group of MPs, it came to light that the incident is not without precedent. On May 12, some MPs from Bihar forced a flight from Delhi to skip Lucknow and fly to Patna. Indian Airlines officials said power-drunk politicians often play havoc with routes and schedules. 'In the past two years, it has happened three times,' said a senior airline official. 'We don't know the exact dates when it happened because, after complaints from airline officials were not addressed the first time, we didn't bother much about it.' He blamed the government's 'heavy intervention' in the airline's functioning for the sorry state of affairs. 'Neta log bahut shor machate hain, kya karen? (Politicians create a ruckus, what can we do?)' the official asked. The Alliance Air plane on a Delhi-Lucknow-Patna-Calcutta hopping flight was to have taken off from the capital around 6 pm, but passengers say that 27 MPs from Bihar insisted that the aircraft be first flown to Patna. They had their way after civil aviation minister Sharad Yadav ordered the airline to 'drop them (MPs) at Patna first and then go wherever you want to'. The plane finally took off at 10.15 pm and landed in Patna around 11.30 pm, after which it went to Lucknow. The MPs sought to blame Delhi airport authorities, saying the flight was delayed without any explanation. Prabhunath Singh, Samata Party MP from Maharajgunje, who, according to passengers, was the leader of the 'hijackers', said: 'We had an important meeting in Patna. So we decided to take the flight to Patna first with Sharad Yadav's permission.' But sources in Patna said no meeting was slated for May 12. 'Neither the Congress, nor the RJD nor the NDA had fixed any meeting,' they added. An airport employee, who was on the aircraft, scoffed at Prabhunath's statement. 'The MPs were dozing. They were talking of Bihar's neglect, not of any meeting,' he said. Union water resources minister C.P. Thakur, also on the flight, said it had rained in Delhi that evening, but it was not heavy enough 'to postpone the takeoff'. 'Prabhunath demanded an explanation and wanted to talk to Sharad. When the minister arrived, it was too late for the plane to land in Lucknow as there was heavy traffic there. So he asked the plane to be taken to Patna.' But officials are wondering how Sharad allowed the aircraft to land in Patna at 11.30 pm, well past the security deadline. M.P. Modi, deputy general manager, Patna airport, said air traffic control had told Delhi that if the plane had to be brought to Patna, it had to be done early. 'But our suggestion was not heeded,' Modi said. The hapless passengers to Lucknow were served dinner at 12.10 am. But hardly anyone ate. 'Have you hard of a midnight dinner,' asked a bemused Shailendra Jain. A bigger ordeal was in store for the five passengers waiting at Lucknow to go to Patna. When the aircraft finally landed at 1 am, they were taken to Calcutta. Apart from wasting an additional three hours' fuel, the airline had to put up in Delhi the 10 passengers who refused to take the 'hijacked' flight and the five others in Calcutta in five-star hotels. The amount spent: about Rs 10,000 on each of the 15 passengers.