1973 Royal Nepal Airlines DHC-6 hijacking
.jpg) The involved aircraft at Pokhara Airport forty years later | |
| Hijack | |
|---|---|
| Date | 10 June 1973 |
| Summary | Aircraft hijacking |
| Site | Forbesganj, Bihar, India |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter |
| Operator | al Nepal Airlines |
| Registration | 9N-ABB |
| Flight origin | Biratnagar Airport, Biratnagar, Nepal |
| Destination | Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, Nepal |
| Occupants | 22 |
| Passengers | 19 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Survivors | 22 |
The 1973 Royal Nepal Airlines DHC-6 hijacking (also known as the Biratnagar Plane Hijack) was the first aircraft hijacking in the history of Nepal.
The main motive for this incident was to gather funds for an armed revolution to restore multi-party democracy by overthrowing the party-less Panchayat system headed by the King in Nepal, Mahendra of Nepal.
Aircraft
The aircraft was a DHC-6 Twin Otter (Registration: 9N-ABB) and was delivered to Royal Nepal Airlines in 1971.[1]
Hijackers
Subedi was recently released from prison, where he read about the hijacking of
Crew and passengers
Three crew members and 19 passengers were on board the flight, including actress Mala Sinha.[2]
Hijacking
On 10 June 1973, Nepal Rastra Bank planned to transport
The hijackers who boarded the plane were Basanta Bhattarai, Durga Subedi, and Nagendra Prasad Dhungel. Girija Prasad Koirala and
Aftermath
The plane took off immediately with the passengers after the boxes of cash were taken out. The hijackers went first to
The DH-6 was used afterward for Nepalese flights for another 41 years, until it was destroyed in the 2014 crash of Nepal Airlines Flight 183. The parts of the aircraft were brought to Nepalganj and were put together again and are currently being exhibited in the BP Museum in Sundarijal, Kathmandu.[8][9]
In 2017, a political and historical documentary about this incident titled Hijacking for Democracy was screened at the Nepal Tourism Board in Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu.[10]
Controversies
It has been alleged that the money, meant to be used in the struggle for democracy, was misused. BP Koirala himself suspected that the money was misused.[6]
See also
References
- ^ "9N-ABB". Twin Otter Archive. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ^ a b The skyjack that shook Panchayat. Buddha Air. April 2010. pp. 4–5. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ^ "Democratic fighter Durga Subedi's autobiography launched". The Kathmandu Post. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ^ "Tell-all account of 1973 hijacking hits shelves". The Kathmandu Post. 12 August 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ^ "The Panchayat System under King Mahendra", Country Studies/Area Handbook Series, U.S. Library of Congress
- ^ a b c d e Post Bahadur Basnet, "Operation Ganesh out, place hijack plan in" Archived September 29, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Republica, April 1, 2010
- ^ Madhav Ghimire and Lilaballav Ghimire, "GPK and the hijack", The Kathmandu Post, March 27, 2010
- ^ "Aircraft hijacked by Nepali Congress in 1973 to be put in museum". República. 19 May 2016. Archived from the original on 5 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ "Plane hijacked by Nepali Congress in Kathmandu for display". The Himalayan Times. 22 May 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ "Documentary on Nepal plane hijacking screened". The Kathmandu Post. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
Further reading
- Subedi, Durga (2018). विमान विद्रोह - एउटा राजनीतिक अपहरणको बयान (in Nepali). Kitab Publishers Pvt. Ltd., Kathmandu.