First Hijack on Foreign Soil: The 1981 Air India Flight Seizure in Seychelles
First Hijack on Foreign Soil: The 1981 air india Flight Seizure in Seychelles
As Netflix streams the mini-series ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack,’ based on the 1999 indian Airlines flight hijacking, it's worth recalling a similar event from 43 years ago. In november 1981, an air india flight was hijacked in seychelles while landing for refueling at Mahe.
The flight, AI-224, had departed from Lusaka, Zambia, en route to Chhatrapati shivaji International airport in Mumbai. Onboard were 65 passengers and 13 crew members. The Boeing 707 aircraft's journey took approximately 21 hours, necessitating a stop at seychelles international airport after about 10 hours of flight due to its limited fuel capacity.
While the aircraft was on the ground, approximately 47 terrorists from swaziland stormed the airport in an attempt to seize control. Amid a confrontation with security forces, they managed to board the air india flight, armed with automatic weapons and hand grenades. Their leader, Peter Daffy, pressured Captain Umesh Saxena to take off and fly the plane to Durban, South Africa. However, the captain bravely refused to comply.
Negotiations ensued between local authorities and the hijackers, lasting around six hours, after which the terrorists agreed to release the hostages and surrender. They were subsequently arrested, and data-faced legal proceedings, receiving prison sentences ranging from one to 20 years.
This incident marked the second hijacking of an indian aircraft in the 1980s; the first involved a plane hijacked by separatists from amritsar to Lahore, which was resolved by the Special service Group of the pakistan Army, successfully freeing all passengers.
Prior to this, three indian planes had been hijacked in the 1970s, but the seychelles incident was the first instance of an indian aircraft being seized on foreign soil during that decade and the 1980s.
As Netflix streams the mini-series ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack,’ based on the 1999 indian Airlines flight hijacking, it's worth recalling a similar event from 43 years ago. In november 1981, an air india flight was hijacked in seychelles while landing for refueling at Mahe.
The flight, AI-224, had departed from Lusaka, Zambia, en route to Chhatrapati shivaji International airport in Mumbai. Onboard were 65 passengers and 13 crew members. The Boeing 707 aircraft's journey took approximately 21 hours, necessitating a stop at seychelles international airport after about 10 hours of flight due to its limited fuel capacity.
While the aircraft was on the ground, approximately 47 terrorists from swaziland stormed the airport in an attempt to seize control. Amid a confrontation with security forces, they managed to board the air india flight, armed with automatic weapons and hand grenades. Their leader, Peter Daffy, pressured Captain Umesh Saxena to take off and fly the plane to Durban, South Africa. However, the captain bravely refused to comply.
Negotiations ensued between local authorities and the hijackers, lasting around six hours, after which the terrorists agreed to release the hostages and surrender. They were subsequently arrested, and data-faced legal proceedings, receiving prison sentences ranging from one to 20 years.
This incident marked the second hijacking of an indian aircraft in the 1980s; the first involved a plane hijacked by separatists from amritsar to Lahore, which was resolved by the Special service Group of the pakistan Army, successfully freeing all passengers.
Prior to this, three indian planes had been hijacked in the 1970s, but the seychelles incident was the first instance of an indian aircraft being seized on foreign soil during that decade and the 1980s.