Vrede Airlines Flight 1080 Incident
 Map of the Incident | |
| Hijacking | |
|---|---|
| Date | 12 July 1994 |
| Summary | terrorist hijacking suicide |
| Site | Anchor Lake, Salamat |
| Total fatalities | 198 (presumed, including 3 hijackers) |
| Total injuries | 0 |
| Total missing | 168 |
| Total survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Airbus A340 |
| Operator | VredeAirlines |
| Registration | NX-RQP |
| Flight origin | Dar Al Hamma-Shahid Airport, Salamat |
| Destination | Elmer International Airport, Nexalan |
| Occupants | 198 (including 3 hijackers) |
| Passengers | 190 (including 3 hijackers) |
| Crew | 8 |
| Fatalities | 198 (presumed) |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Missing | 168 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Ground casualties | |
| Ground fatalities | 0 |
| Ground injuries | 0 |
Vrede Airlines Flight 1080 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Dar Al Hamma-Shahid Airport in Salamat to Elmer International Airport in Nexalan. The flight was operated by Vrede Airlines. On July 12th, 1994 at 13:47 UTC Flight 1080 left the Dar Al Hamma-Shahid Airport in Salamat on Runway 36L, 27 minutes into the flight, 3 hijackers forcefully broke into the cockpit and shot and murdered Pilot Gibson Riley and Co-Pilot Patricia Yang, the terrorist then announced their plans on the plane to crash into the downtown area of Dar Al Hamma, with the motive of Islamic extremism during the Salamati Civil War. Around 8 minutes after the hijacking, according to flight recordings many passengers attacked the hijackers by trying to regain control of the plane, however because of this the plane began to stall and go out of control, ultimately crashing into the Anchor Lake, presumably killing everyone on board as of a result. Finding the aircraft was difficult, and took over 8 hours until it was found split in half and mostly under the ocean. Because of this, a total of 163 passengers and crew members were declared missing, as they could not find their bodies, it is assumed that they sank down in the ocean, which search and rescue teams found unnecessary and dangerous. In 1998, skeletal remains of a 17-year-old boy and a 32-year-old woman were found on an nearby island buried under sand, and in 2004, a skull was found washed up on the shore of an island, the identity of whose skull it was is unknown, but is presumed to be in relation to the crash. Additionally, many briefcases have been found floating around before, the most recent sighting was in 2006. All three bodies of the hijackers were identified, as well as the flight recording device after the crash. After the attack Vrede Airlines officials declared that flights to Salamat will temporarily stop, it wasn't until 2016 when flights to Salamat began with Vrede Airlines.