1985 Narita International Airport bombing

1985 Narita International Airport bombing
Narita International Airport, Terminal 1. The main site where the bombings happened.
Location	New Tokyo International Airport (now Narita International Airport), Greater Tokyo Area, Narita, Chiba, Japan
Date	23 June 1985 06:19 UTC (UTC)
Target	Air India Flight 301
Weapons	Bombs
Deaths	2
Non-fatal injuries	4
Victims	Baggage handlers killed
Perpetrators	Multiple Babbar Khalsa terrorists suspected, Only Inderjit Singh Reyat found guilty
Motive	Terrorism

At 07:13 on Sunday, June 23, 1985 an explosion at the New Tokyo International Airport (later renamed Narita International Airport) killed two baggage handlers, and injured four. The bomb was intended for Air India Flight 301, with 177 passengers and crew on board, bound for Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand.

The bombing was planned by the same conspirators who brought down Air India Flight 182 by a bomb that went off nearly an hour later, when the plane was off the west coast of Ireland. Sikh extremists living in Canada are believed to be responsible for both bombings, but only Inderjit Singh Reyat, who lived in Duncan, British Columbia, was convicted in Canadian court. He was found guilty in 1991 in the Narita bombing. In 2003, shortly before the start of the Air India trial, he made a plea bargain on reduced charges and a promise of testimony against other suspects. He made the bombs used in both incidents.

On June 22, 1985, the bags of a passenger named L. Singh were checked in at Vancouver for Canadian Pacific Airlines (CP Air) 003 to New Tokyo International Airport in Narita, Japan, near Tokyo. This bag was interlined to Air India Flight 301 leaving for Don Muang International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand. L. Singh was assigned seat 38H.

At 2037 UTC, CP Air Flight 003 (named Empress of Australia), departed Vancouver; no L. Singh was on board.

At 0541 UTC (now June 23), CP Air 003 arrived in Tokyo Narita 14 minutes early.

At 0619 UTC, a piece of luggage that had come from CP Air 3 exploded as it was being transferred to Air India Flight 301; the explosion killed two Japanese baggage handlers (Hideo Asano and Hideharu Koda) in Narita Airport and injured four other people.

At 0714 UTC, Air India Flight 182 exploded in mid-air off the west coast of Ireland, falling into the sea. All 329 people on board were killed. Investigation by Canada has revealed connections between the two bombings.