The plane first landed in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, then took off after about four hours. Ten passengers allowed off the aircraft in Uzbekistan before it departed said there were eight to ten hijackers, armed with pistols and automatic weapons. The plane was next forced to land in the northern Kazak city of Aktyubinsk because of a leak in its right fuel tank. Kazak special forces surrounded the aircraft and officials negotiated with the hijackers before allowing it to leave.
The plane later landed at Moscow where a further nine passengers were reported to have been released before it took off again last night and headed west. Before leaving Moscow, Russian security sources warned the Boeing could make "a European capital, possibly London", its next stop.
The hijackers are said to be demanding the release of an opposition figure opposed to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Nine Afghan hijackers were jailed in for hijacking, false imprisonment, possession of firearms and explosives, but were later acquitted in They were able to claim asylum here, whilst many of the hostages also claimed the right to stay in the UK.
The plane landed twice in central Asia, where some passengers were released and the plane refuelled. A decade on he recalled to BBC Essex how he had been alerted that the plane was bound for the airport. I was informed by the duty manager at midnight that the aircraft was going to land at Frankfurt. Contact was made with the hijackers who released an initial eight hostages, followed by a ninth man after he complained of breathing difficulties.
We'd had a hijack in with the Sudan Airways plane and that had given us a foretaste of what to do," he said. Whilst the airport's runways were initially closed, as the hijacked plane stationed away from the main terminal, normal operations were soon able to resume. On the fourth day the captain and three senior crew escaped from the plane, by jumping from a cockpit window and running to safety. Shortly after midnight on the fifth day 85 people, including 21 children on board came down the steps.
Six hours later on Thursday, 10 February, armed police ringed the jet just before the steps to the plane came down once again.
The hijack happened only two months after the Korean Air cargo jet crash in December BBC Local. An armed police response unit was on stand-by at the airport. The hijackers seized the aircraft and passengers on Sunday as it prepared to leave Kabul bound for Mazar-i-Sharif, in Afghanistan.
They directed the crew to take them to Uzbekistan and then on to Kazakstan and Russia. Ten passengers were allowed off the aircraft during these stopovers. While they have made no formal demands to police, apart from requests for food, water and medical supplies for a passenger with a kidney complaint, the hijackers are thought to be pressing for the release from prison of the Afghan military leader and opposition figure Ismail Khan.
As Stansted remained on a high level security alert last night, Assistant Chief Constable John Broughton of Essex Police said a trained negotiating team comprising police officers and officials from the British Foreign Office was rapidly "building trust" with the hijackers.
It is a very delicate operation and we remain committed to a successful outcome where no one is injured. We will talk for as long as necessary. Essex police said an armed response to the hijack was "one of a range of options" available, but stressed the need to continue negotiating a peaceful end to the hijack. Most morning flights to and from Stansted were cancelled due to the hijack, with Ryanair passengers being particularly badly affected.
At a press conference at Stansted last night, Assistant Chief Constable Operations Joe Edwards described the mood on board the plane as "calm". Supplies of fresh water, food, soft drinks and a generator to keep the air conditioning system working were delivered to the aircraft in the afternoon.
Mr Edwards predicted that the negotiations with the hijackers would be "very protracted. It could go on for days. Mr Ian Hill, a freelance journalist from Belfast, was planning to return home after a weekend in Barcelona, but his Jersey European flight was cancelled at the last minute.
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