On March 26th, 1991, Singapore Airlines Flight SQ117 from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore was in the air for just ten minutes when four Pakistani hijackers took it over. The two-year-old Airbus A310 was operating a 50-minute shuttle flight between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore and had 114 passengers and 11 crew members onboard.

The hijackers wanted to go to Australia

The flight, operated by an Airbus A310 (registration 9V-STP), departed Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport (SZB) at 21:38 local time and headed for Singapore Changi Airport (SIN). Of the passengers, there were 55 Malaysians, 21 Singaporeans, 12 Japanese, four Britons, and others from Canada, the United States, and France.

Just ten minutes into the flight, four Pakistani men got up from their seats and announced they were hijacking the plane. Armed with knives, cigarette lighters, and what looked like sticks of dynamite, they instructed the passengers to remain calm and stay in their seats. Speaking to the pilot in charge of the plane, Captain Stanley Lim, they urged him not to land in Singapore but to fly to Sydney in Australia. Captain Lim stressed that he would do whatever they asked but told them he had to land in Singapore as they did not have enough fuel to go anywhere else.

Political prisoner demands

Fortunately, the hijacker's leader took Captain Lim's warning seriously and allowed the plane to land in Singapore and take on fuel for the flight to Australia. When it landed safely in Singapore, the leader told Captain Lim to stop the aircraft on the runway and ensure no one approached it. Now communicating with the Singaporean authorities, the hijackers said they wanted to speak with Pakistan's ambassador to Singapore and former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Saying that they were members of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), they demanded the release of Benazir Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, and other PPP members who were in jail. Activating a crisis management team of officials and hostage negotiators, Singapore bought some time to evaluate the situation and had troops from its Police Tactical Team take up positions around the plane.

Now speaking directly with negotiators, the hijackers were asked to let the passengers go. They refused to release anyone and instead told everyone in first and business class to get up and take a seat in economy. To show they were serious, the hijackers beat flight steward Bernard Tan and tossed him out of the plane onto the runway. Despite falling 14 feet to the ground, Tan was able to tell the police about the hijackers and their weapons.

After a couple of hours, the hijackers became agitated and decided to take the initiative, dousing the cockpit in alcohol, which they said they would set on fire. Another couple of hours passed with no breakthrough, so the hijackers lit some newspapers on fire, telling the negotiators everyone on the plane would be burned alive.

The negotiators agreed to let the plane refuel, and the hijackers put out the flaming newspapers. After the first load of jet fuel was delivered to the aircraft, the hijackers then beat up chief steward Philip Cheong and pushed him out of the plane. Before going to the hospital for treatment, Cheong provided the police with more information that would prove vital for the impending Special Forces raid.

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Singapore Special Forces stormed the plane

Now, several hours into the standoff, as morning approached, the hijackers announced that if their demands were not met, they would start executing passengers. They issued a deadline saying that in five minutes, they would begin killing a passenger every ten minutes. Feeling that they had run out of options, the Singapore authorities decided to storm the plane and rescue the hostages.

The entire time the negotiations took place, a team of Singapore Special Forces had been practicing on another Airbus A310. Now doing it for real, the soldiers blew open the aircraft doors with explosives and tossed stun grenades into the plane before shooting all four hijackers dead. Fortunately, no passengers were injured during the 30-second mission to secure the aircraft.

All four of the hijackers were Pakistani nationals, and the objects they were holding that were thought to be dynamite turned out to be fireworks. Singapore was later praised for the way it handled the hijacking, and there has never been a Singapore Airlines plane hijacked since. The airline continues using the SQ117 flight code on this same route, connecting Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

  • Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-941 (2)
    Singapore Airlines
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    SQ/SIA
    Airline Type:
    Full Service Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Singapore Changi Airport
    Year Founded:
    1972
    Alliance:
    Star Alliance
    CEO:
    Goh Choon Phong
    Country:
    Singapore