Chronology
Hijacking
On March 15, 2001, a Tu-154M aircraft with tail number RA-85619 operated by Vnukovo Airlines performed charter flight VKO-2806 from Istanbul to Moscow on behalf of the travel company "Pan-Ukraine". At 14:57 Moscow time, the aircraft took off from Istanbul Atatürk International Airport. On board were 164 (according to other sources, 162) passengers (including 98 Russians) and 12 crew members. [3] A few minutes after takeoff, while the airliner was still gaining altitude, Supyan Arsaev and his son, seated in row 7, stood up and headed towards the cockpit. Flight attendants Khromov and Dmitriev, whom the hijackers asked to convey their demands to the crew, attempted to resist. As a result, Supyan Arsaev wounded Khromov in the abdomen with a stiletto, while Dmitriev managed to escape to the cockpit and warn the flight crew of the danger. [8] The cockpit door lock was faulty, so to prevent the terrorists from breaking in, the flight engineers took turns holding the door handle manually for the next 22 hours.
The terrorists ordered the passengers to stay in their seats and not resist, threatening to blow up the plane with a bomb that Iriskhan Arsaev was holding. They announced that the bomb was with a fourth terrorist (either non-existent or inactive until the end of the act), who was supposedly among the passengers. [8] The hijackers broke into the aircraft's fire extinguisher compartment and armed themselves with two small axes from the inventory. They also took knives from the galley. The hijackers communicated with the pilots via internal phone and demanded access to the cockpit. The crew sent a distress signal and attempted to return for an emergency landing in Istanbul, descending to 400 m, but the attempt was thwarted by the terrorists who threatened to blow up the plane. Later, Arsaev demanded the plane be redirected to Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates. [3]
Further flight
Refusing to allow the terrorists into the cockpit for their safety, the captain offered to land at any nearby Muslim country's airport for the terrorists to present their demands to the authorities. However, Arsaev reiterated that the plane must land only in Saudi Arabia or the UAE. The hijacked plane took a southeast course. Learning of the course change, the terrorists calmed down and stopped banging on the cockpit door. [8] The plane flew 2,500 km through the airspace of Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia in search of a suitable airport for landing. [9] Meanwhile, not wanting to take responsibility for rescuing hostages, the authorities of Egypt, Israel, and Syria refused to allow the Russian plane to land on their territory.
Three hours into the flight, the aircraft was low on fuel, and it became clear to the crew that an immediate landing was necessary. The nearest airport was Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport in the Saudi city of Medina. The crew used auxiliary onboard GPS data and the onboard computer, as they had no navigation charts of the area. The authorities of Saudi Arabia also did not want to deal with the terrorists and refused the plane's request to land. Moreover, Medina is a holy city for Muslims, and non-Muslim presence is strictly prohibited. [10] Air traffic controllers threatened to shoot down the Tu-154 with air defense fighters if it did not immediately leave Saudi airspace. The commander and navigator managed to explain that there were no other options for landing, and if the plane crashed, the responsibility would fall on the Saudi aviation authorities. The controller again refused landing permission, but the crew miraculously landed at the unfamiliar airport. [3] The airport is in a mountainous area with complex approaches, and none of the pilots had ever been there. Nevertheless, at 18:20 Moscow time, the Tu-154 successfully landed in Medina. [9] There were 1.5 tons of kerosene left in the tanks, enough for another 10-12 minutes of flight.
On the ground
Medina airport was immediately closed, and the Russian airliner was moved to a remote stand. Supyan Arsaev demanded to be let into the cockpit to communicate their demands via radio, but the crew refused again. Despite threats to kill flight attendant Yulia Fomina and other hostages, the crew did not open the cockpit door. The terrorists had to negotiate with the Saudi authorities through the open entry door. [3] The terrorists demanded an end to the fighting in Chechnya. Arsaev explained that the Russian authorities had taken everything from him due to the Second Chechen War: killed his relatives, bombed his house, and left him disabled. The hijackers wanted to draw the world's attention to the Chechen issue. In the short term, Arsaev demanded immediate refueling and a safe departure to Afghanistan. [8]
After food and a radio were delivered to the hijackers, they allowed 20 passengers (the sick, elderly, women, and children) to leave the plane, as well as the unconscious flight attendant Alexander Khromov. Since the airport was extremely hot (temperature +54°C), the terrorists allowed the flight attendants to open all the doors. Using this, about 15 passengers managed to escape through an emergency exit in the tail. However, the terrorists wounded three passengers to demonstrate their seriousness. [11] Realizing the passengers' escape, the terrorists locked all the hatches and doors, leaving only the one near the cockpit open. After another passenger, a Turkish citizen, escaped at night (under the pretext of smoking), the hijackers also closed this door. [8] The aircraft's overheating was stabilized only at night after connecting an air conditioning unit. In negotiations, Saudi authorities stated that the hijackers' demands were unfeasible, and the plane would not be allowed to depart. [3]
The pilots maintained communication with Moscow through HF channels from the beginning of the hijacking. In Moscow, an operational headquarters was created, headed by the first deputy director of the FSB Vladimir Pronichev. Alpha Group fighters prepared to fly to Medina, but Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia did not permit the arrival of Russian special forces. Saudi authorities guaranteed Vladimir Putin that they could handle the hostage rescue and would not let the plane leave Medina. At night, Putin personally contacted the crew (while on a trip to Altai) and promised to do everything possible, asking them not to succumb to the terrorists' threats and not to take off. [3]
By morning, the plane was surrounded by Saudi Arabian special forces. As the aircraft is Russian territory, Saudi authorities sought Russian consent to conduct the operation. According to the head of the operational headquarters Vladimir Pronichev, such permission was granted. The rehearsal was held at night on another Tu-154, provided by Siberia Airlines. To mislead the terrorists, the plane was refueled, creating the illusion that it would soon be allowed to depart. The first attempt to storm failed as the terrorists saw the approaching military and began breaking down the cockpit door. At the crew's request, the special forces retreated. After another refueling, the crew simulated engine start. There were 117 hostages left on board.
Assault
At 12:15 Moscow time on March 16, special forces surrounded the plane again and began preparations for the assault. The terrorists started banging on the cockpit door, demanding immediate takeoff. Under continuous blows, the door began to break, leading the dispatcher to order the crew to leave the cockpit. Barely holding the door, all five crew members managed to escape through the emergency hatch, with minor injuries to flight engineer Andrey Guselnikov and captain Nikolai Vinogradov. [3]
At this time, self-propelled ladders with special forces in black masks and bulletproof vests armed with short-barreled rifles approached the plane. They attacked from four directions simultaneously. The first group went through the cockpit, using the rope the crew had escaped with. The second group entered through the main exit between the cabins. The third group entered through the rear hatch from which passengers had previously escaped. The fourth group landed on the wing and planned to enter the cabin through emergency windows.
The special forces hesitated to open the hatches, so the group from the cockpit was the first to storm the cabin. A special forces member shot Supyan Arsaev, who stood in the front vestibule, at point-blank range. One of the bullets hit Turkish passenger Gurzel Kambal in the abdomen, and both died on the way to the hospital. [8]
Panic ensued, and passengers rushed to the rear of the plane. Other groups could not open the exits. Then 27-year-old flight attendant Yulia Fomina came to their aid. Squeezing through the crowd to the door, she opened it and was immediately wounded (a special forces soldier presumably aimed at a passenger trying to lay her down, mistaking him for a terrorist). Yulia died at age 28 from a neck wound. [3]
By 1 PM, it was all over. The two remaining terrorists who did not resist were arrested. Five Russian citizens suspected of aiding the terrorists were detained and released later. The special forces reportedly suffered one killed and several injured, but Saudi authorities did not confirm this information. [8]
Aftermath
Fifty Turkish citizens on board were sent to Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines plane, including suspected accomplices. The next day, March 17, at 17:13, an Il-62 from Rossiya Airlines returned to Russia with 121 people — passengers from Russia and CIS countries, crew members, and the body of Yulia Fomina. [12] Upon arrival, 28 people sought medical help. On March 19, after maintenance, the Tu-154M returned to Moscow. The same day, Yulia Fomina was buried at Pykhtino cemetery in Vnukovo.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at a Kremlin meeting that the tragedy during the release of hostages from the hijacked Tu-154, resulting in the deaths of two innocent people, "reminded the Russian and international community of whom the Russian army was dealing with during the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya and who law enforcement and special services are dealing with now in establishing constitutional order in that republic". [13]
For their courage, bravery, and professionalism, the Tu-154 crew members received state awards. Initially, Vinogradov was nominated for the title Hero of Russia, but he was later awarded the Order of Courage, which was also awarded to Andrey Guselnikov, Alexander Khromov, [1] and posthumously to Yulia Fomina. [14] Sergey Vorobyov, Nikolai Dmitriev, Elena Dubinina, Svetlana Ivaniv, Sergey Kozhevnikov, and Gennady Chernitenko received the Medal "For Courage". [1]
Russian authorities failed to extradite the hijackers, as no extradition treaty exists between Russia and Saudi Arabia. In July 2002, the Sharia court of Saudi Arabia sentenced the surviving terrorists. Despite the death penalty for terrorism in Saudi Arabia, the court handed surprisingly lenient sentences: Deni Magomerzaev received six years in prison, and Iriskhan Arsaev got four years. [15] Their fate after release is unknown. Supyan Arsaev was buried in Saudi Arabia with the help of the Chechen diaspora.
