Stansted Airport staff recall UK's longest hijack situation

Twenty-five years ago, an Afghan Ariana Airlines plane landed at London Stansted Airport, marking the beginning of the longest hijacking incident in British history.

The hijacking lasted a full four days before the hostages were released and the incident came to an end. The Boeing 727 Ariana Airlines aircraft was hijacked on February 6, 2000, after taking off from Kabul, Afghanistan, on a domestic flight. This incident put significant pressure on international aviation security protocols.

After stopping in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Moscow, the plane landed at Stansted Airport in Essex, north of London, in the early hours of February 7, carrying more than 150 passengers. Stansted Airport is the UK's designated airport for dealing with hijacking incidents. BBC News interviewed some airport staff and others to learn about the roles they played during the crisis, shedding light on the coordinated response.

Curtis Walsh, then a 19-year-old airport worker, was sent to disconnect the plane's ground power after the four-day crisis ended, and then boarded the plane. "I can't put into words what it was like," he said. "These people had been on the plane for four days. It was pretty bad. I remember the silence on the plane. As a passenger, you're used to the plane being bright and clean, but it was cold and dark, like a cold, dark tunnel." Now 45, he is an airport safety trainer and mentions the hijacking incident in his training courses, highlighting its lasting impact.

Alex Adams, 48, is now the head of fire and rescue operations at Stansted Airport, but in 2000 he was a Green Watch firefighter with only 14 months on the job. Just a month and a half earlier, he had experienced a disaster at the airport when a Korean Air cargo plane crashed shortly after takeoff in December 1999. During the hijacking crisis, the fire brigade was on standby while negotiations were underway. "We would get regular briefings and instructions, roughly along the lines of 'If a solution can't be reached, special forces intend to storm the plane.'" "Fourteen months into the job, I thought, 'This is quite an interesting place to work.' I definitely had an adrenaline rush for a while," reflecting the high-stakes environment.

Colin McLachlan, then a 24-year-old soldier, was among the special forces personnel at the airport. Previously stationed at Colchester Barracks, he had just passed the selection for the Special Air Service (SAS). He was notified to go to the airport and was the first special forces soldier to arrive on the scene, disguised as a police officer to blend in. "I was observing the front of the plane," he recalled. "You have to maintain visual contact and provide commentary on what's happening. Everyone we saw was considered a hostile target," illustrating the intense security measures in place.

The crisis began to draw to a close in the early hours of the fourth day, when the plane's captain and three senior crew members escaped from the cockpit windows. Rona Wetherall-Young, 53, was working in the airport's press office at the time and was on duty that night. "I remember watching Sky News, and they had a live shot fixed on the plane," she recalled. "The picture started showing movement inside the cockpit, and you could see people coming out of the windows. It was very exciting," marking a pivotal moment in the resolution of the hijacking.

All of the hostages were subsequently released, 60 of whom later applied for asylum in the UK. In 2001, nine Afghans were sentenced for hijacking, unlawful imprisonment, and possession of firearms and explosives, but in 2003 they were found to have acted under duress and were acquitted, raising questions about the motivations and circumstances surrounding the event.