Crew 9 Registration 9V-STP Summary Aircraft hijacking Injuries (nonfatal) 2 Fatalities 4 (hijackers) | Aircraft type Airbus A310-324 Date 26 March 1991 | |
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Passengers 114 (excluding hijackers) Survivors 123 (all, excluding hijackers) Similar Singapore Airlines Flight 006, Singapore Airlines Flight 368, Continental Express Flight 2574, Nigeria Airways Flight 2120, MacDonald House bombing | ||
Singapore airlines flight 117
On 26 March 1991, Singapore Airlines Flight 117 was hijacked in flight by four Pakistani militants. The aircraft landed at Singapore. After their demands were not met, the hijackers threatened to begin killing hostages; before their deadline expired, commandos stormed the plane, killing the hijackers and freeing all hostages unhurt. This was the first and only hijacking involving a Singapore Airlines aircraft.
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Timeline
The plane, an Airbus A310 with registration 9V-STP, had taken off from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at 21:15 SST, with 114 passengers and 11 crew on board. The plane was hijacked in mid-air while en route to Singapore Changi Airport by four Pakistanis armed with explosives and knives. It landed safely at Changi Airport at 22:15, where an executive group of officials from the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Information, Communications 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 (PPP), demanded the release of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari (later elected President of Pakistan), as well as other PPP members from jail. The hijackers also required the plane to be refuelled to fly to Australia. The next morning, 27 March, at 02:30, the hijackers pushed two stewards out of the aircraft, after the plane had been moved to outer tarmac.
At 06:45, the hijackers gave a last 5-minute deadline, and issued a threat to kill one passenger every ten minutes if their demands were still not met. With three minutes to go, orders were given to initiate the assault: the Singapore Armed Forces Commando Formation (SAF CDO FN) stormed the plane in a 30-second sweep, killing all four hijackers with no injuries to hostages. The hijack leader had been shot five times in the chest, but was still alive. Still determined, he attempted to stand and ignite his explosive. A Commando reacted quickly and drew his Sig Sauer P226 pistol and shot him dead. The plane was completely secured by 06:50.
Aftermath
Prime Minister of Singapore Goh Chok Tong commended all those involved in handling the ordeal and rescue mission for their swiftness and efficiency. Captain Stanley Lim, the pilot of the flight, and Superintendent Foo Kia Juah, chief police negotiator, were awarded the Public Service Star for their roles. The SAF Commando Formation members was awarded the Medal for Valour, and others in the negotiating team were given Presidential Certificates of Commendation.
Several years later, at the unveiling of the Singapore Special Operations Force, Singapore Armed Forces acknowledged that the unit involved in resolving the incident was a classified secret, elite counter-terrorism and special reconnaissance and operations unit formed in the mid-1980s.
The aircraft
The hijacked aircraft had been delivered to Singapore Airlines on 22 November 1988. The hijacked plane continued to remain in daily service with Singapore Airlines after the incident for the next 10 years, until it was transferred to Spanish airline Air Plus Comet on 11 May 2001. The plane was painted all-white and re-registered from 9V-STP to EC-HVB. On 31 May 2003, it was retired from flying and was stored in the Mojave Air and Space Port in the United States. On 25 April 2005, the untitled A310 aircraft which was registered N443RR was broken up and scrapped on site at the Mojave Air and Space Port. The registration of the hijacked A310, 9V-STP, is now used by a 4.9 year-old Airbus A330-300.