Singapore Airlines Flight 117

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On March 26, 1991, Singapore Airlines Flight 117 was hijacked by 4 male passengers, claiming to be Pakistanis. After their demands were not met, they threatened to begin killing hostages. Soon after, commandos stormed the plane, freeing all hostages unhurt and killing the 4 men. This is the most recent terrorist act to be committed in Singapore.^{[citation needed]}

The plane, an Airbus A310,^[1] had taken off from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at 6.15 pm SST, with 118 passengers and 11 crew on board. The plane was hijacked in mid-air while en route to Singapore Changi Airport. It landed safely at Changi Airport's Runway 1 at 10.15 pm, where an executive group of officials from the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Information and the Arts, along with Singapore Airlines representatives and a negotiating team, were all standing by.

The hijackers, who claimed to be members of the Pakistan Peoples Party, demanded the release of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, as well as other PPP members from jail. Furthermore, they wanted the plane to be refuelled to take them to Australia. The next morning, on March 27 at 2.30 am, the hijackers pushed two stewards out of the aircraft, after moving the plane to "outer tarmac". The injured stewards assisted in the ongoing investigations.

At 6.45 am, the hijackers gave a last 15 minute deadline, and issued a threat to kill one passenger every ten minutes if their demands were still not met. Before the countdown was over, orders were given to set 'Operation Thunderbolt' into motion, and the Singapore Armed Forces Commando Formation (SAF CDO FN) stormed the plane in a 30 second sweep, killing all 4 hijackers and leaving the hostages uninjured. The plane was secured by 6.50 am.

The then-Prime Minister of Singapore Goh Chok Tong commended all that were involved in handling the ordeal and rescue mission for their swiftness and efficiency. Captain Stanley Lim, the pilot of the flight, and Supt. Foo Kia Juah, chief Police negotiator, received the Public Service Star for their roles. The SAF CDO FN were awarded the Medal for Valour, and others in the negotiating team were given Presidential Certificates of Commendation.

Several years later, the Singapore Armed Forces finally acknowledged that the unit involved in resolving the incident was a then classified Singapore Special Operations Force, an elite counter-terrorism and special reconnaissance and operations unit.