Air Malta Flight KM 830, a Boeing 737-200, registration 9H-ABF, named Zurrieq, was a flight bound for Istanbul with 80 passengers and crew on board when it was hijacked 20 minutes after take off on 9 June 1997 and diverted to Cologne. The Air Malta aircraft was hijacked by two men, one of the men went into the cockpit and showed the pilot what looked like sticks of dynamite strapped to his chest. Once in Cologne they asked for a doctor, a Turkish interpreter and a television crew to release a statement. The hijackers demanded the release of Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Ağca, who at the time was serving a life sentence in Italy after trying to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981. However three hours after landing, the men left the plane with their hands in the air. German police found no explosives on the aircraft and all passengers were released unharmed.[1]
This was the first time that terrorists had deliberately targeted a Maltese asset causing a degree of concern on the island. In fact the news was given quite a degree of attention by the international media with reports appearing across the world.
The Prime Minister of the time, Dr. Alfred Sant, ordered an immediate administrative enquiry to investigate security procedures conducted at the MIA vis-à-vis the hijacked aircraft – how and if they were followed and if there was room for improvement.[citation needed]
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