National Geographic has produced a documentary about the hijacking of Indian Air 814 which happened on Christmas Eve, 1999. The hijacked aircraft was flown around the Middle East, made three emergency landings and was ultimately taken to Kandahar, Afghanistan where the Taliban took control of the situation.

Passenger Rupin Katyal, who was on his honeymoon, was killed during the ordeal. Two other passengers were stabbed but survived their injuries.

The documentary is up on You Tube in five parts.

I have written previously about the hijacking here and here and have interviewed Dr. Jeanne Moore, the only American on the flight.   

India's former Foreign Affairs Chief, Jaswant Singh, calls the hijacking of Indian Air 814 a "dry run" for the terrorist attacks of 9/11. 

Singh led the negotiations with the Taliban and the Pakistani terrorists which resulted in a prisoner-for-hostage exchange. After the hijackers killed passenger Katyal, the 166 remaining passengers were swapped for convicted terrorists Omar Sheikh, Maulana Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zagar. All three men were being held in Indian prisons.

Omar Sheikh has since been sentenced to death by a Pakastani court for his role in the kidnapping and slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

The hijacking of Indian Air 814 is a key to understanding the origins of the nexus of terror between Al Qaeda, Pakistani terrorists, the Taliban and Pakistan's ISI. The collaborative efforts of these terrorist groups and their state sponsors continues today.

Share This Article

In an interview published today, India's former Foreign Affairs Chief, Jaswant Singh, calls the hijacking of Indian Air 814 on December 24, 1999 a "dry run" for the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Singh led the negotiations with the Taliban and Pakistani terrorists that resulted in a prisoner-for-hostage exchange. One-hundred and sixty-six airplane passengers were swapped for convicted terrorists Omar Sheikh, Maulana Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zagar — all three of whom now have considerably more blood on their hands, including Daniel Pearl's.

I have written about Indian Air 814, interviewed Dr. Jeanne Moore — the only American hostage on board — and maintain that this hijacking is a key to understanding the origins of the nexus of terror between Al Qaeda, Pakistani terrorists, the Taliban and Pakistan's ISI.

The collaborative efforts of these terrorist groups and their state sponsors continues today and the situation is as perilous now as it was on December 23, 1999 and September 10, 2001 — as far as aviation security is concerned. Al Qaeda operative Rashid Rauf was sprung from prison last month — with the help of Pakistani police. Rauf is the alleged mastermind of the London Planes Plot of 2006. He is also related by marriage to Maulana Masood Azhar. 

From 'In Service of Emergent India': An Interview with Jaswant Singh by Susan Weinstein: 

Q: What was your strategy for dealing with the terrorists who hijacked an Indian airplane? Are there lessons for the United States in India's experience?

A: [Janswant Singh] The hijack of IC-814 [Indian Airlines Flight 814; Dec. 24, 1999] from Kathmandu finally to Kandahar in Afghanistan was a most painful episode. It was the worst possible site to deal with the situation. There was not even a telephone connection. And it was Christmas Eve. The world was celebrating, while there were 166 human beings confined in a small space in bitter cold with one toilet. You cannot have a strategy when the situation is changing by the hour. Because the Taliban controlled Kandahar, it was possibly the worst place for India to negotiate the release of its citizens. And we had intelligence saying they would blow the plane up on New Year's Eve for the year 2000, so sitting them out was not an option. They asked for $500 million and the release of 36 terrorists in captivity. Government had a responsibility to negotiate. We broke down the demands to the release of three terrorists by Dec. 31. Of course it is only later that I realized the manner in which the hijack was conducted, using an aircraft as a weapon of destruction, had an uncanny similarity to the subsequent attacks on New York's twin towers and the Pentagon. It was a kind of dry run for what was to come. I shared this view at the time with friends in the U.S. but it is partly human nature that unless you experience the danger yourself, it is difficult to heed warnings. 

Share This Article

Continuing along with a rash of recent European hijackings, France24 is reporting that a Turkish man hijacked a Pegasus Air 737 earlier today over Turkey.

Share This Article

There is a lot of new information on the heroics of the crew and passengers who ended yesterday’s Air Mauritania hijacking-ordeal without tragedy. This should not be confused with the mis-information coming from officials who report that the hijacker “was seeking political asylum” — as if that makes it okay to hijack a plane full of passengers, including children and a pregnant woman, and hold a gun to a pilot’s head.

From Reuters (Madrid):

Share This Article

Earlier in the week, press coverage of Ayman al Zawahiri’s newest video performance focused on Zawahiri’s colorful descriptions of our President. Al Qaeda’s number two called President Bush an “alcoholic” who was addicted to drinking, lying and gambling — and other compulsive pursuits. But at the end of the 40:42 minute diatribe, called “Tremendous Lessons and Events in the Year 1427 AH,” there was an interesting, parting bid. Zawihiri instructed Muslims to serve jihad in Mauritania because, he said, the West African country’s leaders had recently recognized Israel.

From Reuters:

And so when, earlier today, an Air Mauritania passenger plane was hijacked shortly after it had taken off from the nation’s capital of Nouakchott, air traffic controllers around the world must have experienced a collective sense of dread. The hijacker was reported to be carrying two pistols and demanded that the flight be flown to Paris. Pilots convinced the man they did not have enough fuel.

When the plane landed on the tarmac at the military airport, Gando, in the Spanish Canary Islands, the pilots braked hard, sending the armed hijacker to the floor. According to multiple news sources, the hijacker fired two shots before being overtaken by passengers and crew.

Abass Bass, a representative of the Mauritanian Embassy in Washington, told CNN, “The information we had from Mauritania is that the passengers fought back and they took the hijacker and now everything is OK.” Bass also called the armed hijack a “tentative hijacking.”

A “tentative hijacking?” That is like calling someone “sort of pregnant” or “tentatively dead.”

Spanish government officials would neither confirm nor deny the reports of gunshots, nor would they release the hijacker’s name or his nationality.

Share This Article

Earlier today, an Air West passenger plane carrying 103 people was hijacked in Sudan. The hijacker demanded to go to London. Reuters quoted Air West’s commercial manager as stating, “So far there is one hijacker with an AK-47 machine gun.” The Guardian now reports that the man hijacked the plane with a pistol. Most of the passengers were Sudanese; there was one British national and one Italian national. Air West spokesman Saif Omer identified the hijacker as Mohamed Abdu Altif, 26, of North Darfur. The plane, apparently low on fuel, landed in nearby Chad where the gunman surrendered.

Halime Assadya Ali of the Associated Press, writes:

Air West, which operates out of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, is one of 95 airlines prohibited from landing in European countries because of poor safety records. But that prohibition did not stop a hijacked Ariana Afghan Airlines Boeing 727 from being allowed to land in England back in February 2000 — despite the fact that Ariana had been banned from international flights. That flight, carrying 156 passengers and crew, was hijacked in Kabul, Afghanistan by nine men armed with knives, guns and grenades. The flight was refueled in Kazakhstan and then allowed to land in England where negotiations with the hijackers began. After a four-day standoff — England’s longest airport hostage siege — the hostages were freed and the hijackers surrendered.

The nine Afghan hijackers were convicted in British courts of hijacking, false imprisonment, possessing firearms with intent to cause fear of violence and possessing explosives. They were jailed in England but their conviction was later overturned on the grounds that they acted under duress. British courts would not deport the men back to Afghanistan, ruling instead that the hijackers would be allowed to remain in England indefinitely “to work, possibly claim state benefits and support their families in the UK.”

Also from The Guardian:

Prime minister Tony Blair strongly disagreed with the high court’s ruling:

Share This Article

Happy New Year! All around the globe, people celebrate New Year’s Eve six billion different ways. But for American Dr. Jeanne Moore, this night — for the rest of her life — is a night to celebrate freedom. Seven New Year’s Eves ago today, Dr. Moore was released from captivity by Islamic Terrorists. It was December 31, 1999. After eight days held hostage in the belly of an airplane, Dr. Moore stepped down from Indian Air 814 and onto the chilly tarmac at Kandahar Airport in Afghanistan. Here’s what freedom looked like to her then. Those men in the pick-up trucks — sporting turbans, beards, and heavy weapons — are Taliban (photo: TerrorismFiles.org).

Jeanne Moore is a sixty-year old mother and grandmother, a psychotherapist from central California with a joyful disposition and an indomitable spirit. A little over seven years ago she was enjoying a long overdue vacation — flying from Katmandu, Nepal to New Delhi, India — when her flight was hijacked by five, armed and grenade-wielding terrorists. It was the last Christmas Eve of the twentieth century. The hijacking of Indian Air 814 was the only millennium terrorist plot that came to fruition.

The hijackers ordered the plane to be flown across the Middle East while they stabbed non-compliant passengers and hunted for jet fuel. One first class passenger, Rupin Katyal, — a young Indian man on his honeymoon — was stabbed so violently, his head is said to have separated from his body.

The Airbus 300 made harrowing, emergency landings in India, Pakistan and United Arab Emirates where Rupin Katyal’s body was eventually dumped on the tarmac. Finally, the plane was flown to Afghanistan. There, a little-known ruling religious militia called the Taliban arranged a hostage-for-prisoner exchange. Three convicted terrorists were sprung from Indian jails and escorted to Afghanistan by Indian officials. On the last night of the millennium, Dr. Jeanne Moore and her fellow airplane passengers were released from captivity in that sinister exchange.

After her return to American soil, Dr. Moore spoke to Barbara Walters about the hijacking. Then she got quiet. In the years that have passed, most notably in the years after 9/11, Dr. Moore has watched terror events unfold around the world with a close eye. In particular, she’s followed news about what happened to the three convicted terrorists for whom she and the others were exchanged.

Here’s how the Indian Government profiled the terrorists after their release:

Since their release, the terrorists’ rap sheets have expanded. After being released from prison, Omar Sheikh, went to Pakistan where he masterminded the kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter, Daniel Pearl. Sheikh is also believed to have been the ‘paymaster for the hijackers‘ of 9/11. Maulana Masood Azhar has been tied to the London Planes Plot as well as two, deadly terror attacks inside India.

In a series of interviews over the past year, Dr. Moore has shared with me her thoughts and understanding on what it means when governments negotiate with terrorists. She understands such things first hand.

Stay tuned for more on Dr. Moore and the hijacking of Indian Air 814 at The Aviation Nation.

Share This Article