Tianjin Airlines Flight 7554
A similar Tianjin Airlines ERJ-190 at Beijing Capital International Airport
|
|
| Occurrence summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 29 June 2012 |
| Summary | Attempted hijacking |
| Site | en route shortly after departure from Hotan Airport, China |
| Passengers | 92 |
| Crew | 9 |
| Fatalities | 2 (hijackers) |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 13 (7 passengers; 2 security officers; 2 flight attendants; 2 hijackers) |
| Survivors | 99 |
| Aircraft type | Embraer ERJ-190 |
| Operator | Tianjin Airlines |
| Registration | B-3171 |
| Flight origin | Hotan Airport |
| Destination | Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport |
Tianjin Airlines Flight 7554 (Chinese: 天津航空公司GS7554; pinyin: Tiānjīn Hángkōng Gōngsī GS7554) is a scheduled passenger flight between Hotan and Ürümqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region. The aircraft operating this route on 29 June 2012, an Embraer ERJ-190, took off from Hotan at 12:25 pm; within ten minutes, six ethnic Uyghur men, one of whom allegedly professed his motivation as jihad, announced their intent to hijack the aircraft, according to multiple witnesses. In response, passengers and crew resisted and successfully restrained the hijackers, who were armed with aluminum crutches and explosives.
The aircraft turned around and landed at 12:45 pm back in Hotan, where 11 passengers and crew and two hijackers were treated for injuries. Two hijackers died from injuries from the fight on board. The Xinjiang government classified the incident as terrorism. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) reviewed Hotan airport's security measures and airport security was escalated in Xinjiang. The incident marked the first serious hijacking attempt in China since 1990, and the first fatal hijacking or attempted hijacking since the September 11 attacks.
Hotan is a city with over 360,000 residents, over 97% of them ethnic Uyghur, and is renowned for its Uyghur culture.Ürümqi, over 610 miles (980 km) away, is the comparatively modern capital of the region and holds three million residents. Half the population of Xinjiang as a whole is Uyghur. In September 2011, courts had tried and convicted four people for separatist attacks in Hotan and nearby Kashgar that had killed 32 people. The hijacking took place close to the anniversary of the 5 July 2009 Ürümqi riots which killed 200 people.
...
Wikipedia