Indian Airlines Flight 410 was a domestic passenger flight from

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

to Palam Airport,

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, India. On 20 December 1978, the flight was hijacked by Bholanath Pandey and Devendra Pandey shortly before landing at Palam Airport. The hijackers claimed to be members of the Indian Youth Congress, and demanded the release of

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

, withdrawal of the charges against her son

Sanjay Gandhi Sanjay Gandhi (14 December 1946 – 23 June 1980) was an Indian politician. He was a member of the Lok Sabha and was the younger son of Indira Gandhi and Feroze Gandhi. During his lifetime, he was widely expected to succeed his mother as head ...

, and the resignation of the

Janata Party The Janata Party (JP, ) is an unrecognised political party in India. Navneet Chaturvedi is the current president of the party since November 2021, replacing Jaiprakash Bandhu. The JP was established as an amalgam of Indian political partie ...

government. The hijackers surrendered shortly after 60 passengers managed to escape. The prosecution against the two hijackers was dropped after Indira Gandhi and her party returned to government in 1980. Bholanath Pandey and Devendra Pandey then went on to serve as members of the

legislative assembly of Uttar Pradesh The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, also known as Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of bicameral legislature of the Indian state Uttar Pradesh. There are 403 seats in the house. Members of the Assembly are elected by an adul ...

Timeline

On 20 December 1978, the aircraft (a

Boeing 737-200 The Boeing 737 is an American narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retained the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating ...

) was hijacked shortly before landing at Palam Airport by Bholanath Pandey and Devendra Pandey, who were armed with a

toy gun Toy guns are toys which imitate gun, real guns, but are designed for recreational sport or casual play by children. From hand-carved wooden replicas to factory-produced pop guns and cap guns, toy guns come in all sizes, prices and materials suc ...

and a

cricket ball A cricket ball is a hard, solid ball used to play cricket. A cricket ball consists of a cork (material), cork core wound with String (structure), string then a leather cover stitched on, and manufacture is regulated by cricket law at first-clas ...

. The hijackers initially ordered the pilots to fly the plane to

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, which the pilots refused due to a shortage of fuel. The hijackers then ordered the pilots to fly to

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, which the pilots also refused. The hijackers then settled for

Varanasi Airport Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport is an international airport serving Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located at Babatpur, northwest of Varanasi. Formerly known as Varanasi Airport, it was officially renamed after Lal Bahadur Shastri, the 2nd ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

, India. The hijackers made speeches over the plane intercom informing passengers that the plane had been hijacked and that the passengers would not be harmed. The hijackers claimed to be members of the

Indian Youth Congress The Indian Youth Congress is the youth wing of the Indian National Congress party. The Indian Youth Congress was a department of the Indian National Congress from the period just after the Partition of India in 1947 until the late 1960s. Whil ...

; a claim that the Congress later denied. Upon landing in

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

, the hijackers used the plane's radio to announce their demands to the authorities. Their main demands were the release of

(who had been arrested after the Emergency), the withdrawal of all the cases against her son

, and the resignation of the

government. Negotiations commenced early in the morning of 21 December 1978, after a charter flight, carrying

Ram Naresh Yadav Ram Naresh Yadav (1 July 1928 – 22 November 2016) was an Indian politician who was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1977 to 1979. He was from Janata Party; later he joined the Congress. He served as Deputy Chief Minister under the Babu Ban ...

, the

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh is the head of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. As per the Constitution of India, the Governor (India), governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minis ...

, the Inspector General of the Police and the Chief Secretary, landed at the airport at 1:00am. The negotiations continued for several hours, whilst the hijackers kept the 130 passengers and crew hostage within the plane. One passenger reportedly managed to escape undetected during this time. At around 6:00am, in response to passenger complaints about the stuffy air in the plane, the hijackers allowed the passengers to open the rear fuselage doors. This deployed the

evacuation slide An evacuation slide is an inflatable slide used to evacuate an aircraft quickly. An escape slide is required on all commercial (passenger carrying) aircraft where the door sill height is such that, in the event of an evacuation, passengers would ...

, which allowed 60 passengers to escape. The hijackers surrendered shortly afterwards.

Aftermath

After Indira Gandhi and her party returned to government in the

1980 Indian general election General elections were held in India on 3 and 6 January 1980 to elect the members of the 7th Lok Sabha, seventh Lok Sabha. The Janata Party alliance came into power in the 1977 Indian general election, 1977 general elections amidst public anger ...

, the prosecution against the two hijackers were dropped. The

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

party rewarded them with party tickets for the 1980 state assembly election. Both won the election and became members of the legislative assembly of

. Bholanath Pandey served as a Congress MLA from 1980 to

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, and from

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, and Devendra Pandey remained a member of the house for two terms.

Notes

References

External links

*

Business Standard, 18 March 2014.
IC 410 Plane Hijackers become MLA's in India
Mythgyaan, 27 March 2019. {{Air India Aircraft hijackings in India Crime in Uttar Pradesh Indian (airline) accidents and incidents Aviation accidents and incidents in India Aviation accidents and incidents in 1978 1978 in India December 1978 in Asia Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 737 Original Desai administration Hostage taking in India Terrorist incidents in India in the 1970s Indian National Congress politicians from Uttar Pradesh

Timeline

Aftermath

Notes

See also

References

Further reading

External links