What is Aerial Hijacking?

For many years, international terrorism has been a major issue. This type of terrorism is horrific in many ways. This type of terrorism interferes directly or indirectly with the affairs and functions of the state. These terrorists use transportation as their weapons.

Transportation systems of all kinds facilitate international terrorism. In some countries, aerial hijacking is called skyjacking.’ Seizing aircraft without legal authority or permission is what it means. This is an illegal seizure. An individual or group of individuals usually carries it out.

Aerial hijacking can be a terrible disease for any country. Aerial hijacking has many problems, in addition to the risks that any prudent person would be able to predict. The reasons for aerial hijacking vary, but the result is the same: it destroys the foreign relations between two countries.

The relationship between the two states is at risk. Aerial hijackings put the lives of all passengers at risk. This compromises the safety of the aircraft and the trust that passengers have in airlines and aircraft. This creates a severe problem for aircraft manufacturers.

In 1931, the first skyjacking took place in Peru. In 1948, a flight from Hong Kong to Singapore was hijacked by an Asian. It was a very dangerous hijacking in which all passengers were brutally murdered. Not all hijackings result in the death of passengers. In the decade that followed, between 15 and 16 hijackings succeeded. The world was amazed. By the time conventions, treaties, and conventions came to a solution, there were around 50 hijackings.

Aerial hijacking: Reasons and Causes

Each hijacking had a specific motive. Before committing an aerial hijacking, there was a purpose to fulfill. It depends on who did it, where it happened, when, and what they did during the hijacking. After extensive research, it was found that the following were the most common and reasonable reasons for all aerial hijackings. Those were:

Personal Issues

People may think that they are resolving their problems or grudges by stealing the happiness of others. People who have such feelings in their minds are more likely to take paths that are cruel and destructive for others.

These acts are usually committed by people who are mentally ill, mentally challenged, or driven. They believe that stealing someone else’s belongings will restore their happiness. Poor people sometimes steal to escape poverty.

Politics

This is the most common. Aerial hijackings are now primarily motivated by political issues. They want to take the passengers as ‘hostages.’ The hijackers do it for monetary gains or to “get a political concession from top authorities.”

Some hijackers will risk the lives of others and demand a reward in return. The hijackers will only agree to stop the hijacking if their demands are met. In one case, hijackers asked their friends to be freed from Israeli jails and then decided to stop the hijacking.

As refugees

It happens when a hijacker wants to leave his country and move to another because he’s unhappy with its current government or for some other reason. This desire to change the nation makes him commit aerial hijacking.

International Customary Law and Airborne Terrorism

Predators claim that international law governing air safety and technicalities was drafted in 1910. This year, certain conventions regarding the regulation and protection of aerial navigation were made. In this convention, it was stated that each state has the right to exclusive sovereignty. This would include territorial land and the air above the grounds.

This convention did not stop hijackings. Aerial hijackers were not punished severely. It was necessary to have strict laws, including international laws, which would make hijackers think twice before committing such an offense.

The modern-day customary laws have evolved as a result of many events. This law is based on two basic principles:

Each nation must protect its land from harmful activities. It also means that the state must be protected against being used in a way that harms the affairs of other states. According to this norm, every nation must protect the ‘territorial sovereignty’ of other countries for them to prevent and protect their international relations.

A second norm states that each nation should have a duty toward the international community. Every country should ensure that its citizens don’t engage in any activities that could hinder the rights of an individual. Each nation should take part in the protection and promotion of human rights.