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.

1 The hijack
2 Initial landings at Amritsar, and Dubai

[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]

Ibrahim Athar Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Shahid Akhtar Sayed from Gulshan Iqbal, Karachi, Pakistan
Sunny Ahmed Qazi from Defence Area, Karachi, Pakistan
Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim from Akhtar Colony, Karachi, Pakistan
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, 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 did not agree but after Hijackers killed a passenger named Mr Katyal they agreed to refuel the plane as it would have given it some time to formulate some strategy. The plane refueled in Amritsar and stayed there for three hours whereas the Indian special force National Security Guards was no where to be seen. Latter on it was revealed, much to the embarrassment of Indian Govt. that the elite commando units were stuck in traffic near Amritsar. The plane then flew towards Lahore Pakistan. After landing the plane was quickly re-fuelled and took-off bound for Dubai, UAE. In Dubai some 25 passengers were released along with the body of Mr. Katyal. From UAE the plane headed for Afghanistan, then under the Islamic regime of the Taliban which was sympathetic to the hijackers. The plane landed in Kandahar, Afghanistan and the Taliban greeted the hijackers as heroes and gave them new weapons.

Captain Sharan later recalled that before Kandahar Hijackers were carrying only knives of different sizes, similar to hijackers on the fateful September day in the US. Many believe that the IC-814 hijacking was a rehearsal for Sept. 11th.

[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. Their plea was that they wont allow a foreign military outfit to operate in Afghanistan and they themselves are not capable to undertake such an operation. The Taliban encircled the plane with tanks and heavily armed militia. Negotiations opened up between the Indian embassy officials and the hijackers.

It was only after a week had passed that the Indian government sent its special crisis group to Kandahar for serious negotiations. By that time the media outcry in India was so great that a quick resolution to this crisis was needed as a political face saving exercise.

As a result the government accepted [2] to release the following terrorists in exchange for the release of the passengers and crew of the flight IC 814.

Maulana Masood Azhar (Pakistani)
Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar (Indian)
Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh (British national of Pakistani origin)

The erstwhile Indian foreign minister Jaswant Singh had personally gone to Kandahar to deliver the prisoners over to the hijackers and receive the passengers back in exchange for a safe passage to the hijackers.

[edit] Release of the hostages and crew

What followed has gone down as the longest hijack in aviation history. But then there were lessons to be learnt. First of all, the hijack of IC-814 was well planned, it caught the entire intelligence machinery unaware. But then, the biggest lapse on the part of the government was its failure to stop the hijackers in Amritsar. In Kandahar, Taliban militia surrounded the plane, pre-empting any Indian commando operation.

This all ensured that the Government of India succumbed to their demands, leaving it ruing the missed opportunity to foil the hijack in Amristar.

After negotiations between the India government, and the hijackers, the hostages were freed 8 days after the hijacking.

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 Afghanistan in their vehicle before releasing a Taliban official they had taken hostage. Since then no hijacker has been found. It is believed that they might have been killed in the US bombing of Afghanistan. It was one of the most visible failure of Indian political and defence hierarchy until the Kargil fiasco.

[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.