Incident Summary:
03/16/2001: Three Chechen rebels armed with knives and claiming to have a bomb hijacked a Moscow-bound Russian owned Vnukovo Airlines passenger jet after takeoff from Istanbul, Turkey. The three men commandeered the airplane and redirected the flight to Saudi Arabia. While taking over control of the aircraft, they stabbed and wounded a flight attendant. Saudi commandos seized the aircraft after a 22 hour standoff with the hijackers. During the battle, the hijackers stabbed and killed a Russian flight attendant and a Turkish civilian. One of the three hijackers died in the battle as well. 161 of 162 passengers as well as 11 of 12 crew members were freed in the rescue operation.
Overview
GTD ID:
200103160004
When:
2001-03-16
Country:
Turkey
Region:
Middle East & North Africa
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Istanbul
City:
Near Istanbul
Location Details:
In the air between Istanbul and Moscow, an airplane was redirected to Saudi Arabia.
What
Attack Information
| Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
| Type of Attack () |
Hijacking |
| Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
| Target Type: Airports and Aircraft |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
Vnukovo Airlines |
| Specific Description |
A Vnukovo Airlines Tu-154 jet aircraft leaving from Istanbul en route to Moscow |
| Nationality of Target |
Russia |
| Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
Civilians |
| Specific Description |
Passengers on a Russian airline flight from Istanbul to Moscow. |
| Nationality of Target |
Multinational |
Additional Information
| Hostages |
Yes |
| Number of Hostages |
174 |
| US Hostages |
Unknown |
| Hours of Kidnapping |
22 |
| Outcome |
Combination |
| Ransom |
No |
| Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
| Type |
Sub-type |
| Melee |
Knife or Other Sharp Object |
| Explosives |
Unknown Explosive Type |
| Weapon Details |
|---|
| The attackers stabbed 3 people during the hijacking. They claimed to have bombs as well, although reports do not confirm this claim. |
Additional Information
| Suicide Attack? | No |
| Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
| Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
| Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
| Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
| Chechen Rebels |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Personal claim) |
Perpetrator Statistics
| Number of Perpetrators |
3 |
| Number of Captured Perpetrators |
2 |
Casualty Information
| Total Number of Casualties |
3 Fatalities |
| Total Number of Fatalities |
3 |
| Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
1 |
| Total Number of Injured |
Unknown |
| Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
| Molly Moore, “Russian Passenger Jet Hijacked; Istanbul-Moscow Flight Is Taken To Saudi Arabia,” The Washington Post, March 16, 2001. |
| "Saudis Overpower Hijackers," St. Petersburg Times, March 17, 2001. |
| "Forces Storm Hijacked Russian Plane; Three Killed-- a Passenger, Flight Attendant, and Hijacker—as One Hundred Freed,” The Record, March 17, 2001. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties
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