Mia Tan photographed in Tirana, Albania during the Miss Globe International pageant

HIJACKING OF THE BEAUTY QUEENS:
Miss Singapore’s perspective

Question: When would we invite a beauty queen to write an article for an aviation security trade journal? Answer: When she's been the victim of an aircraft hijacking. Mia Tan, otherwise known as Miss Singapore Globe, was on TK 1476 from Tirana. Here, in timeline format, she writes a passenger's perspective.

I had hardly even heard of Albania until I'd won the Miss Singapore Globe title and was informed that the international finals were to be held there. Visit it I did and, having spent two and a half weeks there, touring the country and representing Singapore in the pageant, I was rather eager to return home.

On 3rd October 2006, I boarded Turkish Airlines flight TK1476 with Miss Malaysia, Angie Goh, and Miss Philippines, Jamie Castillo. We had originally travelled to Tirana together and, after living with each other during the pageant, we had forged a strong friendship and were elated to be returning home on the same flight. Here's what happened next...
12 Noon
Arriving at Mother Theresa airport in Tirana, with luggage and memories in tow, TK 1476 was due to depart at 3.30pm.

4.30pm
There were various announcements in Albanian and eventually we learnt that the flight had been delayed due to technical problems.

5.00pm
We were seated together, five rows from the front of economy class. TAKEOFF! Home was just another 15 hours away!

5.20pm
PA: This is your captain speaking. Due to technical problems, we have to make a landing in Brindisi, in southern Italy. We should be arriving in another 20 minutes. Thank you.

That's when our hearts sank. Not another delay! We just wanted to get home! A thought then occurred: here we were headed for Istanbul, Turkey, yet we were stopping in Italy, which is in the opposite direction, for technical repairs? Didn't quite make sense...unless they were seeking the Formula 1 Ferrari team to fix the plane!

5.20pm-6.00pm
En route to Italy for a "technical" problem had me at the edge of my seat. Every rattle made me worry if the engine was going to fall apart! When we landed, it was one of the scariest I'd ever had.

6.10pm
We remained on the runway. This was odd because I'd thought we'd have taxied to the hangar for repairs. I could see buzzing, flickering lights outside, which I assumed were the "service" trucks that had arrived to "repair" the technical problem. The pilot made an announcement asking if there were any Italian citizens on board.

I stood up to go to the washroom. Immediately I was stopped by a stewardess."Please Ma'am, PLEASE SIT DOWN. The aircraft has not come to a complete stop. PLEASE SIT DOWN!" By now, people were fidgeting and wondering why we weren't allowed to move around in the aircraft. One guy across the aisle even claimed he had a health problem and needed to see a doctor. There was an Albanian man who recognised me as Miss Singapore; he said hello and tried to make small talk while waiting.

I looked around for some service staff and saw a guy dressed in dark blue pants and shirt with a dark blue cap, walking in and out of the cockpit. He seemed to be speaking with the captain and the crew. I thought he was a "technician". After all, he was dressed in all dark blue which did look like a uniform!

Figuring it wouldn't take too long to fix the plane and trying to take our minds off things, I took out a deck of cards I'd brought along with me. It was part of my talent showcase from the pageant; I'd chosen card tricks as an icon for my country because of Singapore's forthcoming Integrated Resort (casino).

7.00pm
PA: This is your captain speaking. Is there a doctor on board? Please identify yourself to the crew. Thank you.

I looked over to the man who said he had a health problem. Was he feeling all right? At this point, many passengers were standing by their seats chatting amongst themselves. The flight attendants remained seated whilst also trying to tell the passengers to sit down.

7.30pm
Amazingly, time passes really fast in a small, constrained space and when playing cards. We were now very puzzled as to why people were still not allowed to move from their seats. The stewardess keeps telling everyone to sit down and keep quiet. I had wanted to go to the toilet but the stewardess said it was locked. Looking out of the windows, we saw those flickering lights belonged to police cars. Lots of police cars. And fire engines. And ambulances. What in the world was happening! The "technical fault" was going to cause an explosion?!

8.00pm
By now, the plane was buzzing with chatter. The passengers were all restless and the crew has stopped giving commands. Instead, they had started handing out sandwiches and drinks to passengers who requested for food. The aircon has been off for a while; it was stuffy and hard to breathe.

8.15pm
The aircon came back on thankfully. Kanksha Mehta, Miss India, who was also on board but not travelling with us, asked for some food. The stewardess whispered "no" to her and said it was DANGEROUS. Now a sense of urgency crept in and Angie started to weep. We tried out best to console her.

8.30pm
Suddenly the lights in the aircraft went out, leaving us, momentarily, in total darkness. The emergency lights along the aisle came on. I looked around for some form of help; as we didn't speak Albanian or Turkish we didn't understand all the mutterings that were going on amongst the other passengers.

I saw the aircrew give us a hand signal to duck and take cover. All the passengers on board scrambled to squeeze themselves into the economy class space between the seats. Jamie, Angie and I quickly ducked and tried to stay out of sight, away from the windows! WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON!

We crouched together in that tiny space, looking at each other in fear. That's when I decide to call my Mom.

"Hello Mommy. I don't know what's going on, but our flight was diverted and now we are in darkness, and we have to hide! I'll update you more later. OK?"

Jamie and Angie also used my mobile phone to call home. Angie was still crying; Jamie and I had to feign calmness even though we were also panicking inside.

8.50pm
The lights came back on and the guy who claimed to have a health problem told us that we'd been hijacked! The passengers had been conversing in Albanian on their mobile phones and we hadn't understood a word. Their worried families and relatives had called them after watching the news of the hijack on CNN! The whole world, except us, knew we'd been hijacked! I called my Mom again; she'd also found out from my sister in the USA that we were being held hostage!

9.00pm
The Albanian guy, who recognised me as Miss Singapore, then said, "Miss Singapore. Don't worry. We are all safe now. It's over!" We had not seen much of a commotion or heard arguments or a struggle. Had the hijacker been apprehended? Had he surrendered? Was it really over? Why did everyone still look worried?

9.30pm
The police came on board and told everyone to remain seated.

PA: This is your captain speaking. Please take your luggage and exit the plane one by one.

We exited the plane orderly, taking with us our hand luggage. As I looked out of the cabin door, I saw there were a lot of police cars and fire trucks. We went through security checks right there on the tarmac; our bags were all opened and body searches were done before we were allowed to board a bus to take us to the terminal.

10.40pm
Food and drinks provided and we scoffed it like we hadn't eaten in days. Sandwiches and canned drinks never tasted so good. Even so, none of us really had the appetite to eat much.

There was a lot of activity going on. The Italian police were going around questioning people. We were brought to a small room where we had our baggage opened and searched again. We were questioned about where we were headed and what we had been doing in Albania. They checked our passports and flight details and informed us that they would have to hold onto them for a while.

12.30am
It all seemed surreal. The police were circling us, people were trying to get some sleep and the police were assisting those who needed to call their respective embassies.

3.00am
We were told that a new Turkish Airlines plane had been waiting to take us since midnight but the Italian police were not ready to let us go. We were then brought to claim our checked luggage and everything was opened up for checks yet again.

4.30am
We finally boarded our flight back to Istanbul. It felt a little eerie to be back in an aircraft cabin.

5.40am
TAKEOFF! We tried to catch as much sleep as we could on the short flight.

7.00am
We landed. Istanbul was as beautiful as I'd remembered when I'd first arrived there on my way to Albania. I love airports in the morning. There's something so fresh yet so sad about them. Except that this time, there was also a sense of insecurity when we found the arrivals hall lined with police. Once again, our passports were taken from us and flight details recorded to arrange for new flights home. We'd missed our midnight connection to Singapore!

10.00am
We were mobbed by the press the moment we stepped outside the customs hall. There were hundreds of cameras, microphones, flashes going off like a tropical thunderstorm. Everyone was talking at the same time!

"Tell us about the hijack!" "How did you feel?" "Did you see the hijacker?" "Do you have any footage?"

It was a 16-hour ordeal. Of course I'd felt scared. Yes, I'd seen the hijacker but had thought he was a technician. No, I didn't have footage. Actually I did, but it seemed absolutely suicidal to say I did. I thought the press would be crazy enough to snatch my bags and luggage.

"Why no footage! They are paying US $5000 per minute!"

12.00 Noon
We arrived at the hotel Turkish Airlines had arranged for us to have until our 11.50pm flight home. We checked into our rooms and hurriedly made calls back home. There were even reporters from our home countries who were calling our rooms for tele-interviews!

After a quick change, we had lunch at the hotel's restaurant. The General Consul of the Philippines Embassy turned up to assist us which was a great benefit.

2.00pm
After lunch, we had just enough time for four hours of sightseeing! The three of us set out to see Istanbul. We saw the Blue Mosque, the street bazaar during Ramadan and bought a lot of souvenirs.

7.30pm
The General Consul met us again for dinner. It was then we learnt that, whilst en route to Italy, two fighter jets had been escorting our plane with permission to shoot it down should there have been any more threats.

12.00 Midnight
Back in the enclosed space of a flight cabin, we hoped it would be a normal flight back to where the surroundings were more familiar.

7.00pm
After a four-hour transit in Bangkok, we touched down in Singapore 7pm on the 5th October. Again, all the local press were at the airport, waiting to interview us.

We hugged and said our goodbyes to Angie, Miss Malaysia, at the airport as her parents had arrived to take her home. Jamie, Miss Philippines, stayed over at my home because her connecting flight back to Manila was at 9am the next morning. I took her around Singapore, trying out our local dishes and going souvenir shopping at a 24-hour mall before we finally got some sleep in the wee hours of the morning.

When I read the papers in Singapore, I finally realised the truth about the hijacker and his motives. I am just relieved to have lived to tell the tale.

It was truly a blessing in disguise that we didn't understand the language and that the flight attendants did not reveal the real situation to us. It would definitely have caused panic amongst the passengers and may have sent the hijacker into a frenzy! And, it certainly helps when you have friends by your side, encouraging and looking out for each other...

Editorial Comment: As with other hostage-taking incidents it is important to note that hostages' perspectives of time vary. Whilst the timeline in this article may be accurate, it should not be taken as being the definitive one. Also, granted the nature of captivity, perspectives and memories can also vary considerably. Newspaper interviews with different passengers on TK 1476 tell different stories about the same hijacking. Even amongst crewmembers, memories differ. In interviewing the crew of Indian Airlines flight IC 814 back in 2000, I noted that, interviewed separately, the flight deck personnel had very different stories to tell. That is why such recollections are so interesting and, indeed, important. The various honest versions of the same event just go to show how traumatic a hijacking can be.

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