SQ117 Hijacking Survivors Speak Out About their Horrifying Experience on Singapore Airlines 30 Years Ago

The infamous SQ117 hijacking incident may have occurred some 30 years ago, but ask Mr Ong Cheng Sng and Mr Ted Ang about it and they can probably relate the event as if it had occurred just yesterday.

After all, some memories simply stay etched in the mind. For eternity.

SQ117 Hijacking Survivors Speaks Out About their Horrifying Experience on Singapore Airlines 30 Yrs Ago

30 years ago, Mr Ong was a 44-year-old Maybank manager who happened to be on board the Singapore Airlines flight 117 as a passenger. Meanwhile, Mr Ang was a young 23-year-old junior steward at Singapore Airlines who had just served on a flight from Singapore to Penang.

They were both on the return leg of a Singapore-Kuala Lumpur shuttle, but they probably never expected the turn of events that would occur that day.

These are their accounts of the traumatic incident that took place three whole decades ago.

Tuesday, 9:30 p.m.

It was the pre-flight phase, and Mr Ong, who had comfortably settled into his seat in Economy class, thought it would just be another routine flight trip.

“I thought everything was normal,” he said. “And in a very short while, I’ll be home resting together with my family members.”

Meanwhile, Mr Ang, who was on the last sector of the flight, learnt of some slight delays.

Apparently, some passengers were being held up at the gate boarding.

Tuesday, 9.50pm

The plane has taken off, and Mr Ang swiftly got to work. One of the passengers had requested for a glass of milk, and he proceeded to prepare it for her.

It was during this time that Mr Ang noticed that the four latecomers have gotten up, and were walking towards the toilets.

For some reason, they entered the cubicles in pairs.

Now, though that may fan some sort of questionable image in your head, the fact remains that this is a reality-based article and not a tribute to the M-18 film industry.

As such, it was a queer notion, but Mr Ang did not pay heed to it.

As for Mr Ong, he himself had asked a stewardess for a glass of milk.

But like Mr Ang’s preparation, it was probably never meant to be.

The latecomers have come out, and they were far from being in a state of disarray.

Instead, they were armed with what looked like explosives, and they did not seem friendly.

“Sit down and don’t move,” one of the armed passengers yelled. He would later be recognised as the leader. “This is a hijack.”

But while Mr Ong realised the gravity of the situation and began to fear for his life, Mr Ang was under the impression that the latecomers were simply drunk.

“My first reaction was, with an SQ smile, I said, ‘Sir, would you like to go back to your seat?’” said Mr Ang.

A flurry of punches and kicks later and the steward was left on the floor, frazzled and shocked.

It was not a joke.

Everyone froze, and the leader proceeded to seek out the pilot of the plane.

“No, do not land in Singapore,” he said. “We will blow the aircraft.”

He demanded that the plane head for Sydney instead of Singapore, but Captain Stanley Lim argued that the plane did not have enough fuel for such a long trip.

It would crash halfway, Captain Lim insisted.

They were then allowed to dock in Singapore for refuelling purposes, before they head off for Sydney.

Or at least, that’s what the plan was.

Tuesday, 11pm

The hijackers were well-organised, said Mr Ang. Passengers were shepherded to the economy side while some of the cabin crew were herded to the gallery.

The hijackers also reassured the passengers that they would not get hurt, and called them brothers and sisters.

Passengers were even allowed to go to the toilet.

Well, of course.

But things changed slightly after the plane landed. Stewards began getting beaten up, and one was instructed to consume a spiked drink, which left him in a weak and semi-unconscious state.

“I didn’t know what that was, but sure enough after about 10 minutes, Bernard was a little bit unconscious and couldn’t stand up,” Mr Ang said.

Around this time, a woman in her 40s had seated herself next to Mr Ong, and was attempting to strike a conversation.

The latter, however, was evidently not up for a tinder date.

“I just wanted her to shut up because I didn’t want to attract the attention of the hijackers,” he said, fearful. “She was in her 40s and was very upset that I refused to talk to her.”

As it turned out, Mr Ong had all the right to be fearful.

The hijackers started to drag Bernard, the incapacitated steward, to the front of the plane.

Mr Ang said that he heard a door being opened and closed.

“I’m sorry,” the hijacker leader announced when he came back. “I killed one of your friends.”

Midnight

According to Mr Ang, not all four of the hijackers were aggressive.

Two, he said, were probably followers.

Back in the cabin, one hijacker was indulging in beer, and was even offering it around.

Wait, what?

He also asked passengers for their nationalities, and said to a Lebanese: “Your country is in a worse situation than my country.”

“I almost wanted to laugh,” Mr Ong said. “But I refrained from it.”

Meanwhile, Mr Ang had struck up his own conversation with a young hijacker in the galley.

“After you do this, do you go back to Pakistan?” Mr Ang asked.

“No, no, no,” the hijacker replied, stating that he was actually mentally prepared to die.

Despite the foreboding notion, he said that he was not worried, as his family will be looked after

When asked why he wished to go to Sydney, the hijacker replied that there was racial harmony there.

Mr Ang then indicated that it was the same for Singapore, to which the hijacker reportedly said with a smile: “Yes, I want to go to Singapore.”

But not every part of the plane was in a peaceful state.

Over in the cockpit, the hijackers poured alcohol on the control panel and threatened to set a fire. They even set fire to newspapers on the floor and threatened to do it again.

It was not until negotiators consented to refuel the plane, that they extinguished the fire.

Wednesday, 3.30am

And turmoil only escalated, as Philip became the second victim to be thrown out of the plane.

“I’m sorry, I killed another friend,” said the leader, Shahid.

And then an hour later, Mr Ang became the prospective third victim, and was led to a door with a knife around his neck.

“I couldn’t gauge how high I was,” he said, recalling the moment that he looked down. “At that moment, only two things crossed my mind: The first thing is either I died in the aircraft, or should I be thrown out, how am I going to break my fall.”

Thankfully, just as he was about to be unceremoniously hurled out, the hijacker leader turned up to dispute the choice of action.

Mr Ang was then shepherded back to the safety of the plane.

He would later learn that both Bernard and Philip had actually survived the fall.

Wednesday, 5am

When the refuelling trucks came, the leader was very happy.

He assured passengers that once the process was complete, they will all be let go.

“So at that moment, there was a split second of happiness, telling myself, gosh, it’s going to be over,” Mr Ang said. “But the happiness didn’t last that long.”

Because apparently, two stewards will be accompanying the hijackers and the pilot to Sydney. One of them was Mr Ang.

“A lot of emotions crossed my mind because I started to think about family, loved ones,” he said.

“I always say it’s not a fear of death. It was a fear of leaving my responsibilities behind. I thought of my younger sister, my cousin, my mum, even my dog. Who’s going to look after them?”

Mr Ang proceeded to draft up two letters, one to his wife and one to his mother.

“I wrote a letter to my mum, and I told her that I’ve not been a good boy. And she’s always been pulling me out of trouble and always there for me. I wanted to thank her … and in my next life, we will still manage to be …” he said, too emotionally affected to complete his sentence.

He then passed them to a stewardess.

“If you leave the aircraft before me, please pass these letters to my family,” he asked her.

“She looked at me, didn’t say a word and took the notes along with her.”

As for Mr Ong, he had taken to chanting scriptures from the Book of Psalms.

“I was praying for God to give me a second chance, a second chance that I may see, I may talk to, I may feel my family again,” he said.

However, he did feel calmer after recalling previous rescue operations, which went successfully.

Wednesday, 6.50am

Mr Ang had dozed off, only to wake up and detect movement on the plane.

The doors were blown open with explosive charges, and stun grenades were swiftly hurled inside.

“Next moment, there was a stun grenade being thrown in and bam! Lots of guys in masks came on board and shouted, ‘Heads down, heads down!’” Mr Ang said.

“So what I did was I ducked under the seat, and the first thing I told myself was, thank God, finally they are here for us.”

Mr Ong did the same, and recalls expressing a sigh of relief.

“And when I heard the command, I said, my goodness, this (accent) is Singlish. And this must be the rescue that I was waiting for.”

As the bodies hit the floor, a spurt of muffled gunshots occurred.

Within 30 seconds, it was all over.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are from the Singapore Armed Forces,” the commander said. “We’re here to rescue you. Just follow instructions and do what we say.”

Pretty sure that was the first time people felt relieved and happy after hearing the three words, Singapore Armed Forces.

Post-Incident

The incident would eventually give Mr Ang recurring nightmares, and endless requests to hear his side of the story did not help.

A mere week later, he asked to fly again. He ended up with Singapore Airlines for seven whole years.

“I wasn’t afraid of going back flying; I think I enjoyed flying,” the now 53-year-old Mr Ang, who now works as an interior designer, said. “I think it’s even scarier to stay at home.”

Meanwhile, Mr Ong, who is now 73 and retired, found that retelling the story to interested parties was ideal to get it off his chest.

“I never dreamt about this incident these past 30 years,” he said. “I think I’ve emptied almost everything off my chest. Maybe I was able to let go of everything.”

And a few months later, he found himself, once again, boarding a certain SQ117 – the same ill-fated boarding number he had boarded before.

“You had a bad experience before on this flight number. Now, would you want me to book a seat on this flight?” he recalled his secretary asking.

“I said, ‘Yes, why not?’ I don’t think lightning strikes twice on the same spot.”

And Mr Ong even made sure to get his glass of milk this time.

“I said, ‘SQ117 owes me a glass of fresh milk.’ She looked at me in an unbelieving nature. What was I talking about? Then I told her (about the incident) … and your stewardess never delivered that glass,” he said.

“So now, I just want that glass. And she gave a sigh of relief and started laughing. So I got finally, the glass of milk that I claim SQ117 owed me.”

And as we all know, since 1991, there hasn’t been a second lightning.

PM Lee also posted a Facebook update about the incident, thanking the uniformed men and women who are always on guard.

Featured Image: Sisacorn / Shutterstock.com (Image for illustration purpose only)