Operation Thunderbolt - Hijack of Singapore Airlines SQ 117

Twenty years ago, on March 26, 1991, Singapore Airlines SQ 117 was headed to Singapore from Kuala Lumpur when four hijackers, who claimed to be supporters of the former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, took control of the plane with knives and explosives. They made several demands, including diverting the plane to Sydney and the release of 11 Pakistan People's Party (PPP) members jailed in Pakistan. That was the day when the infamous SQ 117 was hijacked.

In Operation Thunderbolt, the Singapore elite commandos took just a mere 30 seconds to took control of the situation and subdued the hijackers, with zero civilian casualties. That 20-years-ago incident was Singapore's first and only hijack incident.