Outlook Web Desk
Since the OTT release of IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, the internet has been abuzz with curiosity around the 1999 notorious hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight. Here, we will have a look at India's biggest plane hijacks in history.
On January 30, 1971, an Indian Airlines domestic Fokker F27 Srinagar-bound plane was hijacked to Islamabad by a former associate of JKLF chief Amanullah Khan.
On August 24, 1984, an Indian Airlines Srinagar-Delhi flight was diverted to Lahore by the All India Sikh Students Federation when Punjab was in turmoil over anti-Sikh riots.
Congress politicians and friends Devendra Nath Pandey and Bhola Nath Pandey hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-410 as it flew over Aligarh to protest the imprisonment of Indira Gandhi by the Janata Party government.
As many as three Indian Airlines aircraft were hijacked between September 1981, and August 1984 by Sikh terrorist outfit Dal Khalsa with an intention to take them to Lahore on each instance.
Seven young Sikh hijackers seized an Indian Airlines jetliner flying from Delhi to Srinagar and took it to UAE. The hijackers reportedly were members of the banned All-India Sikh Students Federation.
Air India 182 Kanishka from Toronto via Montreal and London to New Delhi exploded off the coast of Ireland right ahead of landing at the Heathrow airport in London. The explosion killed all 329 people on board.
An Indian Airlines Bangalore-Madras A-320 Airbus with 56 passengers and 7 crew members was hijacked. The hijacker wanted Marathwada University to be renamed after Dr B R Ambedkar.
A Delhi-Srinagar Indian Airlines Boeing 737 with 141 passengers and 6 crew members was hijacked to Amritsar. The hijacker wanted it diverted to Kabul.
The December 24, 1999 incident brought the nation to a standstill as five masked terrorists hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814 for a week following its departure from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport.