Indian Airlines Flight 814

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Indian Airlines Flight 814
Summary
Date   December 24, 1999
Type   Hijacking
Site   Hijacked between Kathmandu and Delhi, landed at Amritsar, Lahore, Dubai and Kandahar
Fatalities   1
Aircraft
Aircraft type   Airbus A300B2
Operator   Indian Airlines
Tail number   VT-EDW
Passengers   174
Crew   15
Survivors   188

Indian Airlines Flight 814 (abbreviated IC-814) was a flight that flew from Kathmandu, Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport to Delhi, India's Indira Gandhi International Airport. It was hijacked on Christmas Eve, Friday, December 24, 1999, shortly after the aircraft entered Indian airspace at about 5:30 p.m. Indian Standard Time by five Pakistani nationals. The hijackers stabbed to death 25-year-old Rupin Katyal. Ultimately, the plane landed in Afghanistan, where the hijackers agreed to release their hostages in exchange for the release of three Muslim extremists.

Contents

[edit] The hijack

The Indian Airlines (now renamed as 'Indian') flight 814 (VT-EDW) was hijacked on the eve of Christmas on Friday, December 24, 1999, shortly after the aircraft entered Indian airspace at about 5:30 p.m. Indian Standard Time. The identities of the hijackers were[1]

  1. Ibrahim Athar from Bahawalpur, Pakistan
  2. Shahid Akhtar Sayed from Gulshan Iqbal, Karachi, Pakistan
  3. Sunny Ahmed Qazi from Defence Area, Karachi, Pakistan
  4. Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim from Akhtar Colony, Karachi, Pakistan
  5. Shakir from Sukkur City, Pakistan

Anil Sharma, senior flight steward on IC-814, later recalled that a masked, bespectacled man threatened to blow up the plane with a bomb and ordered Captain Devi Sharan to "fly West"[1]. The hijackers wanted Captain Sharan to divert the aircraft over Lucknow and head towards Lahore, but Pakistani authorities quickly refused permission as they were wary of being linked with the terrorists. Also, the fuel was not sufficient. Captain Sharan told the hijackers that they have to land in Amritsar, India[1].

[edit] Initial landings at Amritsar, Lahore and Dubai

After landing at Amritsar, the flight crew were hoping that they will get some assistance and the hijacking would end. They asked for a sniper or a sharpshooter to go along with the browser and shoot at the tires to disable the aircraft[1]. But, for unknown reasons that didn't happen. The local forces at Amritsar were told to wait for the National Security Guards.

The hijackers asked for the plane to be refueled, the Indian Government agreed as it would have given it some time to formulate some strategy. But as the refueling was deliberately delayed by the Indian Government[1], after waiting for over 25 minutes, the hijackers became suspicious and ordered the captain to fly the plane to Pakistan. When the captain didn't comply, they threatened to kill all the passengers. They stabbed 25-year Mr. Rupin Katyal in his chest a number of times. Rupin Katyal was returning from his honeymoon with his wife Rachna Katyal. At this stage, a helpless Captain Sharan realized that there was no action from ATC, the Indian Government, or the security forces; "the browser was not coming in front of the airplane and nothing was happening"[1]. He decided to fly to Lahore without refueling.

As the plane was running very low on fuel, on Indian government's request, Pakistan allowed the plane to be landed and refueled. However, the Pakistani officials refused the pilots request for medical care for the injured passengers. Three hours after landing, the plane took off towards Afghanistan but as none of the airports were equipped for night landings, it was diverted to the military base Al Minhat in the United Arab Emirates. During this flight, Mr. Rupin Katyal died. After landing, the hijackers were asked to release women and children in exchange for some more fuel, food and water. Some 25 passengers were released along with the body of Mr. Rupin Katyal.

Captain Sharan later recalled that there were "a lot of different kinds of weapons, different colours of hand grenades" in the cockpit and "the pedestal was full of bullets."[1]

In the early hours of Christmas morning, the battered and hijacked plane flew again with a tired crew to Kandahar, Afghanistan.

[edit] Kandahar

The Taliban authorities did not cooperate with the Indian authorities to secure a release of the hostages by disallowing Indian commandos to storm the plane. They refused the request to let Afghan commandos storm the plane, as well.

The Taliban encircled the plane with tanks and heavily armed militia. Negotiations opened up between the Indian government and the hijackers. The government accepted [2] to release the following terrorists in exchange for the release of the passengers and crew of the flight IC 814.

The erstwhile Indian foreign minister Jaswant Singh had personally gone to Kandahar to take charge of the situation there.

[edit] Release of the hostages and crew

After negotiations between the India government, and the hijackers, the remaining hostages were freed. On December 31, 1999, the freed hostages of the Indian Airlines Flight 814 were flown back to India on a special plane. The hijackers disappeared into Pakistan in their vehicle before releasing a Taliban official they had taken hostage.


[edit] In popular culture

The Hindi movie Zameen is a Bollywood adaptation of the Flight IC 814 hijacking. In the movie, a flight by Indian Airways is hijacked to Pakistan-administered Kashmir by terrorists.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f How Govt lost the IC-814 hijack deal (2006-09-07). Retrieved on 2006-09-07.

[edit] External links

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