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
Fatalities	4 (hijackers)
Injuries (non-fatal)	2
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 Pakistani militants. 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 and only hijacking involving a Singapore Airlines aircraft.

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 114 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.