On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1999, the flight was hijacked shortly after takeoff by terrorists. The plane was at first forced to fly to Amritsar, India, before flying to Lahore, Pakistan and a military base in the United Arab Emirates, where 25 passengers were exchanged for jet fuel, food, and water. The terrorists had stabbed to death one of the 173 passengers prior to landing in the United Arab Emirates. The victim was a 25-year old man who was on his honeymoon. They dumped his body off in the UAE as a warning. The hijacked plane later flew to Qandahar, Afghanistan.
On December 31, 1999, the remaining hostages from the Indian Airlines flight were flown back to India on a special plane and freed after negotiations between the Indian government and the Taliban. India agreed to free three Kashmiri militants. The hijackers have not been apprehended.