The IC 814 Captain's Story: Flight into Fear

Captain Devi Sharan

Srinjoy Chowdhury

For Captain Devi Sharan, IC 814 from Kathmandu to Delhi was another routine flight, bringing home honeymooners, holiday makers and businessmen, special only in that it was the last Christmas Eve of the millennium, and he was to go on vacation with his family. But when five masked men brandishing guns and hand grenades hijacked the aircraft, his life and the lives of the 188 passengers and crew changed forever.

This book brings to life the drama, tension and horror of those eight days inside the aircraft, as it flew to Amritsar, Lahore, Dubai and finally Kandahar. There, in a cold and alien place, ordinary men and women were pushed beyond the limits of normal human endurance and forced to confront situations they could not have imagined before: murder, bloodshed, starvation and, above all, the crippling uncertainty of living under the constant threat of death.

An intimate and powerful account of survival, showcasing the strength to remain in command under extreme duress and against overwhelming odds, this book is a tale of courage and fortitude, of hope and its ebbing.