Air Cartadania Flight 6664

Air Cartadania Flight 6664 was an Air Cartadania flight that was hijacked on 18 December 1988 by the Free Pelaxia Group of Port de Vent in the air over the Sea of Canete. The terrorists murdered five passengers and their intention was to crash the plane into the Vilauristre skyline. When the aircraft reached Collinebourg, DELTA, a counter-terror unit of the Yonderian Defence Force, stormed the plane and killed all four hijackers.

Contents

 * 1 Background
 * 2 Hijacking
 * 2.1 Initial phase
 * 2.2 Redirected to Collinebourg
 * 2.3 Raid
 * 3 Aftermath
 * 4 Passengers and crew
 * 5 In popular culture
 * 6 See also

Background
The Free Pelaxia Group had targeted this particular flight because of the flight's final destination in Grand Isle International Airport and the percieved number of Burgundian passengers. The Free Pelaxia Group was a fringe terrorist group operating out of Port de Vent, a Burgundian Bailiwick. Their ideology and primary goal was for Port de Vent either to be ceeded to Pelaxia or gain independence. The attack was planned over a three month period. The weaponry smuggled onboard was acquired on the black market a month prior to the highjacking. The intended goal of the hijacking was to crash the plane into the skyline of Burgundie's capital city Vilauristre.

Initial phase
The hijackers boarded Flight 6664 alongside the rest of the passengers in the early evening of December 18th, 1988. They had managed to smuggle two sub machineguns, four pistols, knives and a hand grenade onboard with them. Approximately 20 minutes after takeoff, the hijackers left their seats and made their way to the cockpit. After a brief fight with the crew the hijackers established control over the cockpit. Although they had no flight experience they had counted on being able to intimidate the pilots to follow their orders. The hijackers made an announcement over the plane's intercome falsely stating that they intended to ransom the plane upon arriving in Burgundie.

Two of the hijackers were posted to watch the pilots while other two kept watch over the passengers in the cabin. Air stewardess Laura Almeida noted that the hijackers overwatching the cabin spoke a heavily accented variant of Burgoignesc amongst themselves, known as Lingua des las Vents. She was able to pick up on the true intentions of the hijacking and made her way to the cockpit, where she was able to whisper it to the captain without the hijackers there noticing. Captain Borja made the decision there and then to redirect the plane to prevent the attack.

Redirected to Collinebourg
Ignacio Borja, the Flight Captain, redirected the plane northwards. When the hijackers asked why he was turning the plane, Captain Borja simply replied that he needed to account for turbulence and the curviture of the planet. The hijackers, satisfied with his answer, asked no further questions of the plane's bearing. Flight 6664 flew towards Yonderre, a route Captain Borja had flown many times and thus was easily able to find. When the two hijackers responsible for the cockpit were otherwise occupied (one of the hijackers was sleeping and the other was in the bathroom) Captain Borja called over his radio in a hushed voice, alerting the Yonderian authorities of the Flight's situation and their intention to land in Collinebourg. DELTA was mobilized and at the airport within minutes, appropriating several Airstairs and another aircraft of the same model as Flight 6664. DELTA had about an hour to plan out and practice their raid before Flight 6664 would be in Collinebourg.

Flight 6664 touched down in Collinebourg International Airport at 23:02. Furious, the hijackers demanded to know why they had landed. Captain Borja responded that they had to make a stop on the way to refuel. The plane taxied to a remote corner of the airport as per the instructions of the air traffic controller.

Raid
DELTA acted switfly after the Flight had come to a halt, charging at the plane with their prepared Airstairs as mock-assault ladders. Powerful light projectors had been positioned by DELTA prior to the aircraft's arrival, and these were employed to blind the hijackers. The hijackers, alarmed by the sudden light, began firing their small arms out of the windows of the fuselage. They were met with sporadic suppressive fire as the DELTAs were concerned about the possibility of civilian casualties. The DELTAs, who had only had an hour to practice for the operation, had failed to account for the plane carrying passengers. As the first airstair reached the front starboard (right) door, it became apparent that it was elevated too high relative to the door frame for a uniform entry into the aircraft. DELTA had trained on an empty aircraft, in which the suspension system of the plane was not as compressed, leading to an overestimation of the necessary height of the airstairs.

After a short delay in repositioning the airstairs under fire, the DELTAs were able to breach the aircraft. Air stewardess Laura Almeida described the ensuing gunfight as "the apocalypse". Captain Borja described it as "terribly violent". Flight attendant Miguel de Sevi recalled that the DELTAs ordered passengers and crew to get down as low as possible with their hands over their heads, hide, and then to not move. The firefight saw DELTA expend more than two hundred rounds of ammunition. The two hijackers in the cockpit were killed almost immediately upon DELTA's breach, but the other two hijackers, including notably their leader Ivo Guliel, were in the tail end of the aircraft and fired back. Both were incapacitated by the DELTAs, but the mortally wounded Ivo Guliel managed to pull the pin on a grenade and blew up himself alongside his fellow hijacker, killing five passengers and wounding several others.

Aftermath
The DELTA raid had succesfully freed the hostages, although five passengers had been killed and more had been wounded in the process. Nine DELTAs had also been wounded, amongst them the commander of the operation, Major Charles Clavier, who had been hit twice by stray gunfire as the Airstairs were readjusting. The wounded were taken to Collinebourg Central Hospital where they were treated, and a business lounge had been cleared in the airport for everyone else to recieve psychiatric aid. The aircraft itself was written off as a result of the damage sustained and scrapped. Some parts of it, notably most of the rear of the cabin, are displayed in the Ducal War Museum in Collinebourg.

The crew of Flight 6664 and the DELTA operators recieved national honours, with Yonderian Minister of Interior Jacques de Carre stating that throughout the ordeal the crew "rose to the occasion".

Passengers and crew
The majority of passengers aboard Flight 6664 were Burgundians travelling home for the holidays. Also aboard the plane were Cartadanians, Paulastran, Urceans, and Yonderians.

In popular culture

 * Flight 6664's captain Ignacio Borja authored a book in 1990 entitled On wings of destiny. The book was a bestseller in Yonderre.
 * The 1990 album Nam Claritas Dei by Yonderian heavy metal band Crusaders features a song entitled Primo Victoria which pays tribute to the DELTA raid of Flight 6664.
 * The Yonderian film Le Raid from 1995 covers the events of Flight 6664. It was made in collaboration with several of the DELTAs who partook in the raid.