Devi Sharan, pilot of IC 814 that was hijacked and taken to Kandahar in 1999, told TOI that there was a time on board the aircraft when the hijackers had announced they would start killing passengers. In this edited excerpt recorded in August 2021 when the Taliban took control of Kabul, Devi Sharan told TOI's Saurabh Sinha what had prompted the sudden change in the hijackers' stand. Head to our link in bio to watch lesser-known details of post-hijack drama and a chance meeting with Mullah Omar.

The controversy around the recent Netflix series on the hijack of Indian Airlines flight IC 814 brought back stark memories from over 20 years ago for two erstwhile pilots of the then Indian Airlines (now Air India), Captain Devi Sharan and Captain SPS Suri. It was on 24 December 1999 that Indian Airlines flight IC 814 was hijacked and forced to land in Kandahar, when it was under Taliban control. Captain Devi Sharan was the pilot of the ill-fated aircraft that was hijacked while Captain SPS Sur