Aviation Safety Network
< Home / Aviation Safety Network
Status
Date Saturday 27 March 1993
Time
Type Silhouette image of generic A320 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Airbus A320-231
Operator Indian Airlines
Registration
MSN
Year of manufature
Engines IAE V2500-A1
Crew Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 11
Passengers Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 192
Total occupants Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 203
Aircraft damage None
Location Amritsar-Raja Sansi Airport (ATQ)   India
Phase En route
Nature Passenger - Scheduled
Departure Airport Delhi-Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL/VIDP)
Destination Airport Hyderabad Airport (HDD/OPKD)
Narrative Indian Airlines Flight 439, an Airbus A320 with 192 passengers and 11 crew, was hijacked during a domestic flight from Delhi (DEL) to Madras (MAA) via Hyderabad (HDD). A passenger, who claimed to have explosives strapped to his body, demanded to be flown to Lahore, Pakistan.
Because authorities in Lahore refused the aircraft permission to land, however, the pilot went to Raja Sansi Airport in Amritsar, India. There the hijacker made three demands : political asylum for himself in Pakistan, a press conference in Islamabad, and an investigation of the hijacking by Interpol rather than by Indian authorities. Although he set no deadlines, the hijacker referred to himself as a "human bomb " and threatened to blow up the plane.
The hijacker eventually surrendered and all passengers and crew members were released . A search of the aircraft located no explosives. The bomb that the man claimed to have strapped to his body was a hair dryer which he had hidden under his belt.

sources

Criminal Acts Against Civil Aviation 1993 / U.S. Department of Transport, FAA, Office of Civil Aviation Security

Safety recommendations