What tight security? What double alert?

Glaring security problems at the Davao City International Airport may have enabled a man to hijack a Philippine Airlines (PAL) domestic flight last Thursday and then jump off it with a homemade parachute.

The hijacker's body, identified as that of Augusto Lakandula, was found by soldiers in the town of Real, Quezon yesterday. An expired driver's license found on him identified him as Reginald Chua while a residence certificate bore the name A. Lakandula.

Security was already tight at the Davao airport prior to the bizarre hijacking because of the recent rash of bombings in Mindanao by suspected Muslim rebels. But there were problems, according to Aviation Security Group director Superintendent Marcelo Ele Jr.

Ele said there was no walk-through metal detectors to scan passengers, and the X-ray machine was not working, forcing guards to conduct manual checks.

And even if the security equipment were working, Ele said, there is no fence around the airport so the hijacker could have bypassed security entirely. They only had 27 security men to guard the entire facility.

Ele has sacked aviation security officials Superintendent Ramon Salvilla, Southern Mindanao Aviation Security Group chief, and Davao airport security commander Superintendent Ernesto Reyes. They may face administrative charges.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Panfilo Lacson admitted there were security lapses, adding that airport security could "only do so much with the equipment and personnel we now have."

He said about 130 X-ray machines are needed for various airports nationwide.

Lacson has ordered an investigation into Lakandula's true identity.

Security was tightened even further following the hijacking, with the airport on "maximum alert." People are being frisked, luggage are manually checked, more security men have been deployed, and all but one entry and exit points are closed.

PAL officials blamed the airport security men for the hijacking. "We are wondering how Lakandula was able to sneak aboard the plane the hand grenade and revolver despite the fact that luggage of passengers are scanned by metal detectors manned by the Aviation Security Group," PAL president Avelino Zapanta said.

Denying any laxity on their part, the airport security men are still unable to explain how Lakandula got on board. A PAL official in Davao said Lakandula was the last to board.

"If anyone can smuggle a gun and a grenade at the height of a supposed red alert, I shudder at the thought of what can be smuggled in during normal security conditions," said Rep. Jack Enrile (Independent, Cagayan).

Flight 812's skipper, Capt. Emmanuel Geronimo, thought Lakandula was more "emotionally disturbed" than deranged. He said Lakandula, armed with a pistol and a grenade, wanted all of them to die with him, while ranting about his wife who left him for a Davao policeman.

At one point, Lakandula fired a shot inside the cockpit, perhaps accidentally, said Geronimo.

Lakandula wanted the plane to turn back. But when the pilots said they didn't have enough fuel, he asked to be taken to Samar.

Geronimo's co-pilot, Carlos Neri, was able to befriend Lakandula by speaking to him in his Visayan dialect and convinced him they were over Samar when they were actually over Batangas.

Neri dissuaded Lakandula from committing suicide, saying he wanted to help. He gave him money and asked passengers to do the same.

During their conversation, the pilots realized that Lakandula knew skydiving because he knew the altitude requirements for a skyjump.

The plane was depressurized to permit the hijacker to jump with a homemade parachute, ski mask and swimming goggles while it circled Antipolo, Rizal at 6,000 feet.

A huge gust of wind swept into the plane when the door opened, a passenger said. It stayed open until the plane landed safely at Ninoy Aquino International Airport. All 278 passengers and 13 crew were unhurt.

Residents in Real saw something fall from the circling plane. A parachute opened and a man floated down for about five minutes. But the man separated from the parachute and fell into forested mountains.

The improvised parachute was found with Lakandula but not the loot. Lakandula could have saved himself, a police officer said, if he had fastened the parachute to his body better. It was made of material like that used in military parachutes with tough nylon cords.

"A trained skydiver wouldn't use any improvised parachute similar to the one he used," Ele said. "I would say he's an adventurist or a man who's fantasizing that he's a skydiver. Using that kind of parachute would be plain and simple suicide."

Press Secretary Ricardo Puno said the episode angered the President because of the Davao airport security lapse.

But they were also glad, Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora said, that it only involved a hijacker who was "a little insane." President Estrada was relieved that Muslim rebels were not involved.

Asked why the hijacker jumped, Puno said, "Perhaps, the hijacker wanted to go to Hinulugang Taktak (a small waterfall) in Antipolo."

Commenting on the episode, Senate President Pro Tempore Blas Ople said alert airport security men at the airport should've spotted Lakandula's strange behavior, if he was manifesting any, before he boarded the plane. --