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Table of Contents
- FOREWORD Page
- 2000 IN REVIEW
- Geographic Overviews - Significant Criminal Acts Against Civil Aviation
- Asia and the Pacific .................................................................................................................................................
- Central Eurasia ......................................................................................................................................................
- Europe ....................................................................................................................................................................
- Latin America and the Caribbean .......................................................................................................................
- Middle East and North Africa ..............................................................................................................................
- North America .......................................................................................................................................................
- Sub-Saharan Africa ...............................................................................................................................................
- Feature Articles
- The Hijacking of Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 805 .........................................................................................
- Theft of Cargo by Armed Assault - 2000 .............................................................................................................
- Trends 1996-2000
- Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................................
- Attacks at Airports ................................................................................................................................................
- Bombings/Attempted Bombings/ Shootings on Civil Aviation Aircraft ...........................................................
- Shootings at In-Flight Aircraft .............................................................................................................................
- Off-Airport Facility Attacks .................................................................................................................................
- Incidents Involving General Aviation/Charter Aviation ....................................................................................
- Hijackings of Civil Aviation Aircraft ...................................................................................................................
- Commandeerings of Civil Aviation Aircraft .......................................................................................................
- Appendices
- Appendix A U.S.-Registered Air Carrier Hijacking Chronology, 1996-2000 .................................................
- Appendix B Foreign-Registered Air Carrier Hijacking Chronology, 1996-2000 ...........................................
- Appendix C Bombings of Aircraft Chronology, 1996-2000 ..............................................................................
- Appendix D Chronology of Significant Acts Against Civil Aviation In 2000 By Date ....................................
- Appendix E Chronology of Significant Acts Against Civil Aviation In 2000 By Category ............................
- Appendix F Total Incidents, 1996-2000 ..............................................................................................................
- Appendix G Politically-Motivated Incidents Involving Civil Aviation, 1996-2000 .........................................
- Charts and Graphs
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2000 IN REVIEW
Incidents Against Aviation - 2000 By Region 42 Incidents
Middle East (8) North America (1)
Africa (3)
Europe (2)
Latin America (5)
Central Eurasia (4)
Asia (19)
Forty-two incidents involving attacks against civil aviation interests worldwide occurred in 2000, totaling the highest number of incidents since 1994, when 50 were recorded. The 42 incidents exceed by 18 the number of incidents recorded in 1999 and nearly doubles the lowest incident total (22), recorded in 1998, for the five-year period 1996-2000. The sharp increase in incidents in 2000 was the result of more hijackings (20 vice 11 in 1999) and airport attacks (13 vice 0). Interestingly, there was no “spate” of either hijackings or airport attacks in any one country in 2000, as has happened in the past.
The most incidents in a geographic region in 2000 was recorded in the Asia and the Pacific region (19 incidents). The Middle East/North Africa area recorded the second-highest number of incidents (8). The Latin America and Caribbean region accounted for five incidents, and four incidents were recorded in Central Eurasia. The sub- Saharan Africa region accounted for three incidents, Europe recorded two incidents, and the North America region listed one incident. All geographic regions recorded at least one incident in 2000, unlike last year. As in years past, hijackings accounted for the highest percentage of incidents (47.6%) in 2000.
The 19 incidents recorded in Asia and the Pacific in 2000 included eight airport attacks, six hijackings, three commandeering incidents, a charter flight hijacking, and a general aviation aircraft robbery. The airport attacks included two bombings in the Philippines, a bombing and an attempted bombing in Laos, guerrilla assaults in the Philippines and Indonesia, and an attempted bombing and an airport takeover in Indonesia. Each of the six hijackings was committed during a domestic flight. Two of the hijackings occurred in China, two were in Papua New Guinea, and one took place in the Philippines (in which the hijacker jumped from the plane using a homemade parachute and was killed). One hijacking also occurred in Afghanistan, in which multiple hijackers forced the plane to London, England, where a number of passengers requested asylum. The three commandeering incidents took place in China, the Solomon Islands, and Pakistan. The charter aircraft hijacking occurred in Thailand and the
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A commandeering incident was recorded in North America. An individual tried to force his way on to a plane at JFK International Airport in New York.
The sub-Saharan Africa region recorded three incidents in 2000: two airport attacks and an aircraft that was fired upon. The airport attacks included a bombing in South Africa and an assault by antigovernment rebels in Angola. The shooting at aircraft incident occurred in Burundi as the plane was landing. Antigovernment rebels were blamed.
Archive Photos
Damaged Vehicle Near Site Of Bomb Blast, Manila Airport, The Philippines, 12/30/
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Asia and the Pacific
China (3)
The Phillipines (4)
Papua New Guinea (2)
Solomon Islands (1)
Australia (1)
Laos (2)
Thailand (1)
Nepal (1)
Indonesia (2)
Pakistan (1)
Afghanistan (1)
Incidents included in statistics (19)
Incidents not included in statistice (1)
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Chronology
January 20 General Aviation Aircraft Robbery Australia
February 6 Hijacking—Ariana Afghan Airlines Afghanistan to England
February 29 Hijacking—China Southwest Airlines China
March 14 Attempted Bombing—Jakarta Airport Indonesia
March 14 Attack—Salle Airport Nepal
May 3 Attack—Cotabato Airport Philippines
May 22 Hijacking—Missionary Aviation Fellowship Papua New Guinea
May 25 Hijacking—Philippine Airlines Philippines
June 4 Bombing—Manila Airport Philippines
July 27 Abduction of Pilots Fiji *
July 30 Attempted Bombing—Vientiane Airport Laos
July 31 Commandeering—Cathay Pacific Airways China
August 1 Takeover—Wamena Airport Indonesia
September 16 Commandeering—Solomon Airlines Solomon Islands
September 27 Hijacking—Xinhua Airlines China
November 1 Hijacking—North Coast Aviation Papua New Guinea
November 9 Bombing—Vientiane Airport Laos
November 17 Charter Aircraft Hijacking Thailand
December 17 Commandeering—Pakistan International Airlines Pakistan
December 30 Bombing—Manila Airport Philippines
- Incident Not Counted in Statistics
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Shortly before the plane was to land in Fuzhou, the man pulled out a bottle of gasoline, a cigarette lighter, and a knife. He demanded that the B-737 aircraft be flown to Taiwan and reportedly threatened crew members with the knife. The hijacker was overpowered by crew members, however, and the plane landed safely at Fuzhou Airport. Extra security personnel were on hand to take charge of the aircraft and hijacker. Subsequent reporting suggested that Chinese security officers who may have been on the flight, rather than crew members, had overpowered the hijacker. The hijacker was reported to have a history of mental problems. He apparently felt slighted by his supervisors at the Agricultural Technical Department and believed that Taiwan would be a better place to work.
March 14, 2000—Attempted Bombing—Jakarta Airport—Indonesia
A worker at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport discovered three Molotov cocktails under a bank billboard at the entrance gate of Terminal II. The incendiary devices had not ignited and were turned over to security officials at the airport. There were no claims of responsibility.
March 14, 2000—Attack—Salle Airport—Nepal
Nepalese Maoist rebels unsuccessfully attempted to capture Salle Airport. Windows of the airport were broken and there was damage to police assets, but there were no injuries. Flights to the airport were not impeded by the attack.
May 3, 2000—Attack—Cotabato Airport—Philippines
Awang Airport in Cotabato, Maguindanao province, located on the southern island of Mindanao, was closed by authorities after it came under fire from Muslim guerrillas. The airport is a dual-use military and civilian facility. Before dawn, suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas attacked the Philippine Army 6th^ Infantry Division headquarters at Camp Tiangco, located next to the airport. The guerrillas fired three B-40 rocket-propelled grenades (RPG). One RPG exploded beside the runway of the airport. There were no casualties, but airport operations were temporarily halted. Philippine Airlines also cancelled its flights between Manila and the cities of Cotabato and General Santos. Awang Airport subsequently was ordered closed until May 9 by aviation authorities.
May 22, 2000—Hijacking—Missionary Aviation Fellowship—Papua New Guinea
Three men hijacked an aircraft belonging to Missionary Aviation Fellowship during a domestic passenger flight from Erave to Batiri in Southern Highlands Province. Once the aircraft was airborne, the hijackers tore out the plane’s communications equipment and then stole a small sum of money from the passengers and crew. The hijackers subsequently forced the pilot to land the aircraft in Erave, where they deplaned and escaped. MAF flights to Erave, Batiri, and Wawanda were suspended in the wake of the incident.
May 25, 2000—Hijacking—Philippine Airlines—Philippines
Philippine Airlines flight 812, an Airbus A330 aircraft with 284 passengers and 14 crew members, was hijacked during a domestic flight. The plane was en route from Davao International Airport to Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Approximately one hour into the flight, a passenger got out of his seat and went into one of the aircraft’s restrooms. He emerged armed with a .22 caliber handgun and what was later determined to be a fake hand grenade. While on his way to the cockpit, the passenger encountered a flight attendant, pulled out the handgun, and said that he was hijacking the plane. He subsequently fired a single shot toward the cockpit door, although it is believed this was done accidentally. The hijacker then ordered the flight attendant to ask the pilot to open the door.
Once inside the cockpit, the man threatened to blow up the aircraft if his demands were not met. The hijacker insisted that the plane return to Davao but was told that there was not enough fuel. The man then collected money from the passengers and crew and demanded that the rear door be opened so that he could jump out using a homemade parachute. After the cabin was depressurized, a flight attendant opened the left rear door and the hijacker jumped out. The crew continued the flight on to Manila, where the plane landed safely. There were no injuries to the passengers or crew members.
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Plane In Hanger With Broken Door On Floor
The hijacker was killed in his jump from an altitude of 6,000 feet because the parachute apparently malfunctioned. His body was discovered embedded in the ground about 15 kilometers east of Manila; the parachute was found about a kilometer from the body.
June 4, 2000—Bombing—Manila Airport—Philippines
A bomb exploded at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport early in the morning but caused no injuries. The bomb damaged a woman’s rest room near a walkway leading to the airport parking area. Windows and glass facades were destroyed, and a small crater was left in the concrete pavement. Airport authorities said the area was nearly deserted at the time of the explosion. There were no claims of responsibility.
**July 27, 2000—Abduction of Pilots—Fiji ***
Two pilots were taken hostage by supporters of Fiji coup leader George Speight at the airport in Savusavu, a small town on the southern coast of the island of Vanua Levu. At least one of the hostage-takers was armed, but the pilots were not injured in the incident. The hostages were taken briefly to a hotel in Savusavu and then moved to a nearby village. There were no demands announced by the hostage-takers, and the pilots were subsequently released. This was the first time that foreigners had been taken hostage by supporters of Speight.
July 30, 2000—Attempted Bombing—Vientiane Airport—Laos
A small improvised explosive device was discovered and defused in a rest room at the domestic terminal at Vientiane’s Wattay Airport. The device was fabricated from a hand grenade. There were no claims of responsibility for the attack. A number of people were arrested, but it is not known how they were connected to the incident.
July 31, 2000—Commandeering—Cathay Pacific Airways—China
Hong Kong police arrested a man who held a female hostage on board a Cathay Pacific Airways aircraft that was parked at the Hong Kong International Airport. The man, armed with a pistol, forced his way through a staff security checkpoint on the south side of the passenger terminal to the apron. The suspect then ran toward a parking stand and forced a cleaning woman to board the plane. The only other person then on board was an engineer who remained trapped in the cockpit until the incident was over. The gunman likely did not know that the engineer was aboard. No passengers were on the plane because the incident happened several hours before the flight was due to
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November 17, 2000—Charter Aircraft Hijacking—Thailand
A Vietnamese-American chartered an aircraft at a small airport south of Bangkok on the pretext of taking flying lessons. Once on board, however, the man told the pilot that he was carrying a hand grenade. He threatened to detonate the grenade unless the pilot diverted the plane across the Gulf of Thailand to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. After flying low in order to evade radar detection, the pilot was forced to make several low passes over the city as the hijacker threw out leaflets. These leaflets resembled the South Vietnamese flag and exhorted the Vietnamese people to rise up against their communist leaders. En route back to Thailand, the aircraft ran low on fuel and the pilot was forced to make an emergency landing at a military airstrip in U Tapao, Thailand. The hijacker, who was arrested upon arrival, denied that he had forced the Thai pilot to make the flight against his will. He claimed instead that the pilot was willing to fly him to Vietnam in exchange to a cash payment of (U.S.) $10,000.
The hijacker was identified as a former South Vietnamese fighter who, in September 1992, hijacked a Vietnamese Airlines plane to drop anticommunist leaflets over Ho Chi Minh City. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison but was released by presidential amnesty in 1998 after serving six years. In January 2000, this individual also reportedly flew from Florida to Cuba to drop anticommunist leaflets.
This charter aircraft hijacking is a politically-motivated incident.
December 17, 2000—Commandeering—Pakistan International Airlines—Pakistan
An Egyptian passenger tried to commandeer a London-bound Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight from Karachi during a stopover in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Security officials determined that the man was carrying a false Belgian passport and advised him that he could travel no further. The man then pulled out a butter knife, grabbed an oxygen bottle, and demanded to be flown to London. The pilot was not on board the plane at this time, and the passenger demanded that he return. A security official dressed in a pilot’s uniform boarded the plane, and the passenger was subsequently overpowered and arrested. Authorities in Dubai, however, declined to press charges. On December 19, the man, his wife, and two children were deported to Pakistan accompanied by PIA security officials.
December 30, 2000—Bombing—Manila Airport—Philippines
Five explosive devices detonated almost simultaneously in the metropolitan Manila area during the afternoon, killing 11 people and injuring more than 80 others. One of the devices exploded near the aviation fuel storage depot at the cargo terminal of Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The cargo terminal building was damaged in the explosion, and three cargo company employees were injured.
While no credible claims for the bombings were received, Philippine government officials attributed the attacks variously to Muslim separatists; communist rebels; and both supporters and opponents of Philippine President Estrada, who was being impeached on charges of bribery and graft at the time of the attacks.
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Chronology
March 30 Attempted Bombing—Sheremetyevo Airport Russia
May 30 Attempted Bombing of Airplane Russia
August 18 Hijacking—Azerbaijan Airlines Azerbaijan
November 11 Hijacking—Vnukovo Airlines Russia to Israel
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March 30, 2000—Attempted Bombing—Sheremetyevo Airport—Russia
An explosive device was discovered at the flight training center of Sheremetyevo 1, which serves domestic flights, in the early morning. The device, reportedly consisting of a grenade and a stick of dynamite placed in a jar of concentrated acid, was in either a box or a bag. According to press reporting, the acid would serve as a timing mechanism by dissolving a piece of plastic used as the safety pin of the grenade. The device was removed and remotely detonated. There was no claim of credit.
Reports of another device being discovered at the same airport on February 15 could not be corroborated.
May 30, 2000—Attempted Bombing of Airplane—Russia
Russian media reported that a homemade explosive device was discovered on board a plane at Yekaterinburg Airport in Russia. A Customs officer discovered the device after the unidentified Tupolev TU-154 plane had arrived from Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The device reportedly consisted of as much as 400 grams of TNT, a clock mechanism, a detonator, a battery, and connecting wires. It was hidden in a tea box in the plane’s rear lavatory. Bomb disposal experts disrupted the device with a water cannon.
It is not known who placed the device or what the motivation was.
August 18, 2000—Hijacking—Azerbaijan Airlines—Azerbaijan
A passenger hijacked Azerbaijan Airlines flight 254 while the plane was on a domestic trip between Nakhichevan and Baku. The hijacker claimed to be armed with a hand grenade and a bottle of flammable liquid. He demanded that the TU-154 aircraft, with 164 passengers, be flown to Istanbul, Turkey, where he wanted to visit a hospitalized Azeri political leader. The hijacker agreed to the pilot’s recommendation to refuel in Tbilisi, Georgia. While the plane was still in Azeri airspace, however, the hijacker was overpowered by two Ministry of National Security officials who were on the plane. The plane landed in Baku, and the hijacker was arrested. He did not have a grenade but reportedly carried two bottles—one containing kerosene and the other an unidentified liquid.
The hijacker was identified as the chairman of the Nakhichevan branch of the opposition Musavat Party. A number of the hijacker’s largely political demands, including postponing parliamentary elections until December, were printed in an opposition newspaper the following day. Several days after the hijacking, the editor-in-chief of this paper was arrested and charged with terrorism for having maintained contacts with the hijacker. Documents relating to the hijacking were reportedly in his apartment. The hijacker, however, claimed to have acted alone.
This hijacking is a politically-motivated incident.
November 11, 2000—Hijacking—Vnukovo Airlines—Russia to Israel
Vnukovo Airlines flight 838 was seized by a hijacker during a domestic flight between Makhachkala, Dagestan, and Moscow. The hijacker claimed to have an explosive device, with which he threatened to blow up the plane, and demanded to be taken to Israel. The plane, a TU-154 aircraft with 49 passengers and 10 crew members, landed at Baku, Azerbaijan, for refueling. While at Baku the hijacker demanded only fuel and maps and refused to negotiate, and the plane departed after about two hours. Although there was only one hijacker, confusion existed as to whether others were on board and what their motive was. Because the plane departed from Dagestan, it was thought that there might be a connection to the fighting in Chechnya.
Israeli authorities initially denied permission for the plane to land at Tel Aviv because of fears that it might be blown up over the city. Because the pilot sounded “very pressured” and because of the plane’s low fuel supply, authorities permitted the aircraft to land at the Uvda Air Force Base in the Negev Desert. An Israeli Air Force plane escorted the hijacked plane to the base. The hijacker surrendered upon landing. It was then discovered that he was alone and that his “bomb” was a blood pressure gauge. The hijacker told authorities that he was fighting against world domination by Asians and that he wanted to deliver a message to the Japanese emperor.
The plane, its passengers and crew, and the hijacker were returned to Russia.
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