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Air Malta flight KM 830, (Boeing 737-2Y5(Adv), Registration 9H-ABF, Construction Number 23848/1418 named Zurrieq) bound for Istanbul with 90 passengers on board was hijacked 20 minutes after take off on June 9, 1997 and diverted to Cologne. The Air Malta aircraft was hijacked by two men. One of the men went into the cockpit and showed the pilot what looked like sticks of dynamite strapped to his chest. Once in Cologne they asked for a doctor, a Turkish interpreter and a television crew to release a statement. The hijackers demanded the release of Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Ağca, who at the time was serving a life sentence in Italy after trying to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981. However three hours after landing, the men left the plane with their hands in the air. German police found no explosives on the aircraft and all passengers were released unharmed.

This was the first time that terrorists had deliberately targeted a Maltese asset causing a degree of concern on the island. In fact the news was given quite a degree of attention by the international media with reports appearing across the world.

The Prime Minister of the time, Dr. Alfred Sant, ordered an immediate administrative enquiry to investigate security procedures conducted at the MIA vis-à-vis the hijacked aircraft – how and if they were followed and if there was room for improvement.^[1]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Hijacking description at the Aviation Safety Network

v • d • e ← 1996 Aviation accidents and incidents in 1997 1998→ Comair Flight 3272 (January 9) — Israeli helicopter disaster (February 4) — China Southern Airlines Flight 3456 (May 8) — Continental Airlines Flight 1760 (May 11) — Air Malta Flight 830 (June 9) — FedEx Flight 14 (July 31) — Korean Air Flight 801 (August 6) — Vietnam Airlines Flight 815 (September 3) — Garuda Indonesia Flight 152 (September 26) — Austral Líneas Aéreas Flight 2553 (October 10) — SilkAir Flight 185 (December 19) — Transavia Airlines Flight 462 (December 24) — United Airlines Flight 826 (December 28) Bold indicates incidents resulting at least 50 deaths (current article is always in bold) Orange color indicates the deadliest incident in 1997

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