The SQ 117 Rescue Mission
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anyone still remember the SQ 117 Rescue Mission 14 years ago today. this operation remains till today the only SAF operation to have drawn blood.
not forgeting COL Lo Yong Poo too.
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On 26 Mar 1991, Singapore Airlines Airbus flight SQ 117 took off from Subang Airport in Kuala Lumpur with 129 passengers and crew onboard at 1815 hrs. Four passengers who claimed to be Pakistanis took control of the plane when it was enroute to Singapore. The plane landed and parked at Changi Airport's Runway One at 2215 hrs.
Even as the plane arrived, an Executive Group of high-ranking officials from various organisations including MINDEF, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Information and the Arts, the Singapore Airlines and a negotiating team were activated.
Demands
The hijackers claimed to be members of the Pakistan People's Party. They wanted the release of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's husband and other PPP members detained in Pakistani jails. They also wanted the plane refuelled so that they could fly to Australia.
On 27 Mar 91 at 0230 hrs, the plane was moved to an outer tarmac. The hijackers pushed two SIA stewards out of the plane, injuring them. The injured stewards provided vital information, which assisted the eventual storming of the plane.
Countdown and Rescue
The hijackers issued a five-minute deadline at 0645 hrs after which they threatened to kill one passenger every ten minutes if their demands were not acceded to.
On the countdown to three minutes, the order was given to storm the plane. Elite Commandos stormed the plane, killing four Pakistani hijackers and freeing all 118 passengers and 9 crew. The rescue of SQ 117 was over in just 30 seconds and ended at 0650 hrs. None of the passengers and crew were hurt.
PM Goh's Commendation
Prime Minister Goh expressed his appreciation to everyone involved in the rescue, the officials from various ministries, statutory boards and SIA. He praised them for their swift and efficient handling of the crisis.
CPT Stanley Lim, the pilot of SQ 117 and Supt Foo Kia Juah, the leader of the Police negotiating team each received the Public Service Star for their role in the rescue. The SAF Commandos were awarded the Medal for Valour while the members of the unit and members of Police negotiating team were awarded Presidential Certificates of Commendation at a separate ceremony. -
COL Lo Yong Poh (is it Poh or Poo) was the first commando to storm aboard the plane right? He aimed at the head of the first hijacker he saw and pulled the trigger.Originally posted by Gordonator:anyone still remember the SQ 117 Rescue Mission 14 years ago today. this operation remains till today the only SAF operation to have drawn blood.
not forgeting COL Lo Yong Poo too.
Nerves of steel, man. -
Yeah, I remember the buses moving out that night and my instructors speaking in hushed tones over the next few days.Originally posted by Gordonator:anyone still remember the SQ 117 Rescue Mission 14 years ago today. this operation remains till today the only SAF operation to have drawn blood.
not forgeting COL Lo Yong Poo too. -
It was a long time ago, my company was on standby that week. Got turned out - thinking it was another drill. But it was a live one.
Can't remember the details, but we went thru the usual routines of checking everything was in order and ready to go. Some briefing about securing the parameter to prevent interference. Anyway - nothing happened for us, waited until everything was over. -
Sorry dun flame me!!!I am not degrading the SG SOF but the commandos massacred some men with butter knife and proclaimed ' bomb'. Of Cos they cant take any chance in this kind of situattion. But it not really such am impressive operation. Compare to what happen to israel ops when their liner got hijacked to Africa their commandos flew thousand miles to storm the enemy airport and wipe out part of their Army and air force in the process!!and brought the hostage back .. all this done in the enemy territory
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With all due respect, Sean, your view is problematic in that it not only is based upon 20/20 hindisght, but it also attempts to compare apples to oranges.
First, of course, we have the hindsight issue. Yes, we now know that they had firecrackers and knives, but what would you have been thinking at H-Hour, standing outside the aircraft door and not knowing what you were going to find in there? That, I propose, makes the difference between the force line boys and the rest of us.
Second, SQ117 and Thunderbolt were entirely different missions altogether.
- 117 took 55 seconds to complete; Thunderbolt took 58 minutes
- 117 took place entirely within the confines of the aircraft; the Thunderbolt hostages were in Entebbe airport, where there was more space to work with
- 117 took place within the space of a day; Thunderbolt stretched over 8 days, during which the terrosists had time to grow complacent, especially since they had the support of the Ugandan troops
It therefore would not be appropriate to say who did a better job since the two missions were vastly different. -
Yup, i support Gedankan's view.
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another very important difference. the SQ mission had no hostages or rescuers killed during the rescue, while the Entebbe raid, 3 hostages were killed during the rescue.
most notably, the elder brother of the Israeli PM Benjamin (Binyamin) Netanyahu(96 - 99), LTC Johnathan (Yonatan) Netanyahu was one of the 2 KIAs. He was the leader of the assault force. -
anyone still remember the SQ 117 Rescue Mission 14 years ago today. this operation remains till today the only SAF operation to have drawn blood.
Hmm juz curious, should another similar incident happen ... who will be sent??
not forgeting COL Lo Yong Poo too.
Spf STAR of Army's SOF???? -
COL Lo was only a junior officer back then right? LTA?
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I agreed with most of you.. still we must really give it to the israli for putting up such a mission !! I alway have repect for the sg commandos formation... just wondering if we ever need to mount such a operation like IDF.. we may need to sent our SOF, STAR and Gurkhas just my ignorant opnion !!
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Ya lor.. Even though there are terror threats todayOriginally posted by Gordonator:anyone still remember the SQ 117 Rescue Mission 14 years ago today. this operation remains till today the only SAF operation to have drawn blood.
not forgeting COL Lo Yong Poo too. -
ya. long time ago.
i was told that the plane had become a bee hive after everything was over. intel say all hostages were squating down. order was shoot to kill.
and the 1st to enter the plane was a Major and those went in was holding a min rank of CPT, the rest outside were STAFF SGT and below.
imagine bee hive.
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"operation remains till today the only SAF operation to have drawn blood."
on NEWS and papers YES. should have more but on the non-reportable reports. -
The only other combat related mission in the public sphere was East Timor.Other than that, I can't really say.But I guess you're right.There are a few more...Originally posted by Joshua1975:"operation remains till today the only SAF operation to have drawn blood."
on NEWS and papers YES. should have more but on the non-reportable reports.
However , I recall that our UN observers got into an exchange of fire on the Iraq-Kuwait border ten years back or so. -
Here's a crazy idea. Why don't we assume there's a good reason why other incidents weren't reported and leave well enough alone?
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According to some hearsay we had some casulty during our peacekeeping mission and weapon got stolen, dunno how true?Originally posted by LazerLordz:The only other combat related mission in the public sphere was East Timor.Other than that, I can't really say.But I guess you're right.There are a few more...
However , I recall that our UN observers got into an exchange of fire on the Iraq-Kuwait border ten years back or so. -
Yeah i remember that. Cos i turned on the tele to watch my 2.30 or was it 2pm repeat drama series.. but it was this hijack on tele instead.
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theres alot of things ppl dont hear...Originally posted by seancannot:According to some hearsay we had some casulty during our peacekeeping mission and weapon got stolen, dunno how true? -
x2.... Lots of things get covered up in the SAF.Originally posted by Rockhound:theres alot of things ppl dont hear...
Even the rescue operation in the hijacking.... If I'm not wrong, the SOF was still highly classified back then. When Mindef was pressed for a statement, they simply said that the commandos came from 'HQ Commando'. End of statement.
It was only years later when it was finally acknowledged that SOF troopers had done the job. -
Hmmz....shots fired in Iraqi-Kuwaiti border durin peace-keeping missions ther?That's new...even the Timor Leste part is new.Haha...Anyway...to be real honest,weaponry/equipment being stolen during peace-keeping is not uncommon.Read that in Somalia,a section of Pakistani soldiers were robbed of their weapons,equipment and uniforms on the streets.How bout that huhz?
Anyway,can someone share the ROE of the troops during the SQ117 Rescue Mission?And besides,what is the ROE of troops during peace-keeping ops? -
Hey Ged, I got whim of an operation at the Thai-Laos (or was it Cambodia) border. You guys even wore flak jackets or was it (Level 2 body armour?).Originally posted by Gedanken:Here's a crazy idea. Why don't we assume there's a good reason why other incidents weren't reported and leave well enough alone? -
Sorry, X, I did promise that I'd say nothing, so I'm saying nothing.
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Yup, us guys in battalion were briefed to say that a force of 100 or so regulars was maintained within HQ Commando to take care of jobs such as SQ117.Originally posted by fudgester:Even the rescue operation in the hijacking.... If I'm not wrong, the SOF was still highly classified back then. When Mindef was pressed for a statement, they simply said that the commandos came from 'HQ Commando'. End of statement.