173 Hours In Captivity
Encyclopedia
173 Hours In Captivity: The Hijacking of IC 814 is a 2000 book (ISBN 81-7223-394-9) written by Neelesh Misra
, a New Delhi
-based correspondent
of the Associated Press
. The book is about the hijacking
of Indian Airlines Flight 814
on its journey from Kathmandu to New Delhi on Christmas Eve
, December 24, 1999.
) is a well-documented and familiar story. The book presents the events inside the plane. During their 173 hours of captivity, the passengers and the crew lived and re-lived, experienced and re-experienced many uncomfortable emotion
s. The book recaptures the sequences which happened inside the Airbus A300
.
, Afghanistan
to New Delhi - the price of their freedom being setting free few terrorists
who were held under the custody of the Government of India
.
Neelesh Misra
Neelesh Misra is an Indian journalist, author, radio storyteller, Hindi script and lyrics writer, photographer and the Deputy Executive Editor of Hindustan Times. He also heads India's first Writer led Band, Band Called Nine where storytelling meets songs....
, a New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
-based correspondent
Correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is a journalist or commentator, or more general speaking, an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, location. A foreign correspondent is stationed in a foreign...
of the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
. The book is about the hijacking
Aircraft hijacking
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
of Indian Airlines Flight 814
Indian Airlines Flight 814
Indian Airlines Flight 814 commonly known as IC 814 was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 en route from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India on Friday, December 24, 1999, when it was hijacked...
on its journey from Kathmandu to New Delhi on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, December 24, 1999.
Introduction
The sequence of events outside the plane (IC 814Indian Airlines Flight 814
Indian Airlines Flight 814 commonly known as IC 814 was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 en route from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India on Friday, December 24, 1999, when it was hijacked...
) is a well-documented and familiar story. The book presents the events inside the plane. During their 173 hours of captivity, the passengers and the crew lived and re-lived, experienced and re-experienced many uncomfortable emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
s. The book recaptures the sequences which happened inside the Airbus A300
Airbus A300
The Airbus A300 is a short- to medium-range widebody jet airliner. Launched in 1972 as the world's first twin-engined widebody, it was the first product of Airbus Industrie, a consortium of European aerospace companies, wholly owned today by EADS...
.
Inside the Airbus A300
Some of the incidents aboard the Airbus that are detailed in the book include:- The behavior of the five masked men, nicknamed Chief, Burger, Doctor, Shankar and Bhola, towards the passengers and the crew.
- The plight of Rachana Katyal, newlywed brideBrideA bride is a woman about to be married or newlywed.The word may come from the Proto-Germanic verb root *brū-, meaning 'to cook, brew, or make a broth' which was the role of the daughter-in-law in primitive families...
of Ripan Katyal, whose husband was slashed by one of the hijackersAircraft hijackingAircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
, and bled slowly and painfully to death.
- The conditions inside the plane, with terrified passengers wetting their clothes on their seats; their "silent cries", fainting and vomitingVomitingVomiting is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose...
.
Blackmail
This blackmail by the gang of five paid off and the passengers and the crew were flown back from KandaharKandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
to New Delhi - the price of their freedom being setting free few terrorists
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
who were held under the custody of the Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
.