Singapore Airlines Flight 117

Singapore Airlines Flight 117

The aircraft involved in the hijacking, seen in Changi Airport in 1999.
Hijacking summary
Date	26 March 1991
Summary	Aircraft hijacking
Passengers	114 (excluding hijackers)
Crew	9
Injuries (non-fatal)	2
Fatalities	4 (hijackers)
Survivors	123 (all, excluding hijackers)
Aircraft type	Airbus A310-324
Operator	Singapore Airlines
Registration	9V-STP
Flight origin	Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport
Destination	Singapore Changi Airport

On 26 March 1991, Singapore Airlines Flight 117 was hijacked in flight by four male passengers from Pakistan. 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 happening of A310.

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 118 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 took a Beretta 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 CDO FN were 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 in "all white" colours 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.

See also

• Counter-terrorism in Singapore
• List of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners
• Air France Flight 8969 – similar incident and resolution in 1994
• Indian Airlines Flight 814 – similar incident in 1999