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The plane, an Airbus A310 with registration 9V-STP,[2] had taken off from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at 18:15 SST, with 118 passengers and 11 crew on board. The plane was hijacked in mid-air while en route to Singapore Changi Airport, and 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 (current President of Pakistan), as well as other PPP members from jail. The hijackers also required the plane to be refuelled in order to fly to Australia. The next morning, March 27, at 02:30, the hijackers pushed two stewards out of the aircraft, after the plane had been moved to outer tarmac. At 06:45, the hijackers gave a last 5-minute deadline, and issued a threat to kill one passenger every ten minutes if their demands were still not met. With three minutes to go, orders were given to initiate the assault: the Singapore Armed Forces Commando Formation (SAF CDO FN) stormed the plane in a 30-second sweep, killing all four hijackers with no injuries to hostages. The plane was completely secured by 06:50. [edit]Aftermath Prime Minister of Singapore Goh Chok Tong commended all those involved in handling the ordeal and rescue mission for their swiftness and efficiency. Captain Stanley Lim, the pilot of the flight, and Superintendent Foo Kia Juah, chief police negotiator, were awarded the Public Service Star for their roles. The SAF CDO FN were awarded the Medal for Valour, and others in the negotiating team were given Presidential Certificates of Commendation. Several years later, at the unveiling of the Singapore Special Operations Force, Singapore Armed Forces acknowledged that the unit involved in resolving the incident was a classified secret, elite counter-terrorism and special reconnaissance and operations unit formed in the mid-1980s. |