From the first flash to landing in Dubai: A look at how PTI covered the hijacking of IC814 in 1999

PTI reports on the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC 814 from Kathmandu to Delhi in 1999.

The sun had just set on a winter day. Unknown to all but a handful of people, a drama was unfolding in the sky - Indian Airlines flight IC 814 from Kathmandu to Delhi had been hijacked.

A PTI reporter got wind of it and the news agency brought the news to the world with a one-line flash at 6 p.m. on December 24, 1999 in what turned out to be a 8-day long ordeal for the entire nation.

It was a time when social media was non-existent and live television in its infancy; newspapers and TV channels relied entirely on news agencies for breaking news.

With interest revived in the hijacking after the release of a Netflix docudrama series, PTI is reproducing here the entire sequence of stories — filed in short bursts as and when new information emerged — on that fateful day. It shows how the fuzzy picture of 6 pm gradually attained focus.

PTI reporters provided grist to the story from New Delhi, Kathmandu, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Islamabad, Lahore, London and Dubai where the plane finally landed at an air force base, about 8.5 hours after the hijackers had taken control.

We reproduce here the entire sequence including the initials of the reporters and editors, as well as the date-time stamp. For example, 12241800 refers to Dec 24, 1800 hrs or 6 p.m.

New Delhi, Dec 24 (PTI) An Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi was hijacked today. The flight IC-814 was on its way to Delhi from Kathmandu and is said to have been hijacked shortly after 1700 hours. Preliminary reports said that hijackers were diverting the plane to a neighbouring country, probably Lahore in Pakistan. Hijacked IA plane refused permission to land in Lahore The Pakistani authorities this evening refused permission to the hijacked Indian Airlines plane to land at Lahore airport.