Valkyrie Airways Flight 721

Valkyrie Airways Flight 721 was a domestic flight from Independence Airport to San Diego. On March 14, 2023, the aircraft experienced a failed hijacking attempt, the airline’s second ever, losing an engine in the process. The pilots were able to regain control from the terrorists in critical moments. Unlike Valkyrie Airways Flight 33, the aircraft continued to its destination, despite having lost an engine.
==Background==
At the time of the hijacking, the aircraft carried 122 passengers and 8 crew, including the pilots.
===Aircraft===
The aircraft, involved in the accident, was a 2-month old Robus A320-251N, delivered to Valkyrie Airways on February 2, 2023, registered as RP-C9720. It was the airline’s first ever "AeroTech-variant" A320neo, being more modern than its old aircraft.
=== Crew===
Flying the plane is First Officer B739, the first officer who was aboard Valkyrie Airways Flight 33 during its hijacking two months earlier. He logged in 562 total flight hours, 34 of which were on the A320.
Monitoring the instruments is Captain Laj. He is known to have experience in martial art and combat, and general fighting. He logged 1001 total flight hours, 216 of which were on the A320.
===Hijackers===
There were 4 hijackers from Team Nyami, 2 from Roblox and 2 from Puyo Puyo.
There were 3 hijackers from Team Arle Nadja, all of them being from PNM.
==Accident==
The aircraft took off from Independence Airport at exactly 2:03 PM, followed by an uneventful climb to its cruising altitude of 32,000 feet. Unknown to the pilots and crew, the 7 hijackers are on board.
30 minutes after it reached cruising altitude, the hijackers begin the hijacking. A flight attendant immediately warned the pilots through the phone that something was wrong.
18 seconds after the flight attendant’s warning, the hijackers somehow break into the cockpit. A large fight ensues, with the First Officer engaging the autopilot as he did aboard Flight 33 months prior.
San Diego ATC instructs Flight 721 to begin, but the aircraft did not respond.
Both recorders show the autopilot was disengaged by the hijackers in an attempt to crash the plane.
Nose up inputs, most likely from the hijackers, were recorded in the Flight Data Recorder in an attempt to stall the plane. However, since the aircraft was operating under “Normal Law”, a protection called "Alpha Floor" was triggered, thus automatically increasing and locking the thrust in max power in an event of a sudden pitch-up. Despite this, the aircraft stalled.
According to the pilots, some passengers and crew decided to help in subduing the hijackers, which resulted in 3 out of 7 hijackers being subdued.
The aircraft began pitching down due to the stall, and at some point the pilots, with the help of two passengers, dragged the hijacker-in-control out of the cockpit, with the Captain taking immediate control and began making an abrupt pitch-up input. The First Officer squawks 7500, the international squawk code for which an aircraft is hijacked, immediately alerting San Diego ATC that Flight 721 is in distress. The aircraft begins to pitch up. But it was such at an altitude that it would narrowly miss directly colliding with the ocean. 
Although the plane started climbing, the right engine makes contact with the ocean, significantly damaging it in the process. It was thought that someone pushed the captain, causing him to accidentally make a right input, and causing the engine to hit the water. As it continued climbing the remaining 4 hijackers try to take control, but they were eventually stopped by crew through brute force 2 minutes later. All 7 hijackers have been restrained, one of whom was critically injured.
The First Officer notifies San Diego ATC that the situation is under control, and that there is no need for deviation.
6 minutes after contact with the ocean, the right engine flames out due to the extreme damage it sustained when it struck the ocean, emitting smoke. As a result, the pilots declare an emergency, and change their squawk code to 7700, the international squawk code for a general emergency alert. San Diego ATC clears all departing, and arriving aircraft away from the runway for the plane to land.
The aircraft touches down at San Diego Airport at 3:21 PM, being chased by airport police. It eventually makes a full stop on the runway, and is surrounded by airport police vehicles. An airstair vehicle was dispatched to disembark the passengers, and for the police to arrest the hijackers afterwards. 25 minutes later, the right engine catches fire, and burned for 1 hour before the airport firetrucks extinguished it.
==Aftermath==
The incident left 1 out of 7 hijackers succumbing to their injuries, while the remaining 6 were seriously injured . The two pilots, and 46 passengers were slightly injured. 83 passengers and crew were unscathed however.
RP-C9720, the aircraft involved, received minor damage to the fuselage, and its right engine was heavily damaged. It was eventually towed to a hangar an hour after landing, where it was fully repaired, and put back to service three days later. On August 23, 2023, flying as Valkyrie Airways Flight 726, the aircraft experienced another failed hijacking attempt, but was able to land at an airport albeit suffering major damage. The aircraft was repaired, but was grounded indefinitely on September 5, 2023. It is still grounded as of November 17, 2023.
The hijackers were immediately put under custody, charged with air piracy, and then were given jail sentences ranging from 16-27 years, on March 18, 2023.
Since it was Valkyrie Airways' second hijacking made by Team Nyami, and their associates, rumors began circulating that Valkyrie Airways is a new target for the terrorists. Due to these circulating rumors, the airline begins training its pilots to better perform in self-defense against anomalies in flight. They are also given self-defense weapons.
The airline still uses flight numbers 721, and 726 for the Independence-San Diego, and San-Diego-Independence flights.
==Recorder Highlights==
 (2:37:12) F/O: A flight attendant said there's something wrong.
 (2:37:15) Captain: Okay, could be a hijack situation, let's be on guard.
 (2:37:19) (Hijackers storm cockpit.)
 (2:37:21) Hijacker 1: We will take over this plane and destroy it.
 (2:37:26) Hijacker 2: Prepare to peris- AH!
 (2:37:27) (Constant thudding, followed by smashing and F/O engaging the autopilot)
 (2:37:31) Unknown (presumably Captain): Get the hell out of here!
 (2:37:34) Unknown 2 (presumably a hijacker): NO!
 (2:37:34 - 2:41:22) (Continued fighting, struggling and smashing)
 (2:41:25) Hijacker 3: We have control now, we're gonna make this plane stall!!! (engine thrust decreases)
 (2:41:30) (engine thrust automatically increasing due to Alpha Floor) What! How is the plane not stalling?!
 (2:41:34) Unknown: Grab the controls!
 (2:41:36) (Constant struggling, and shouting sounds, followed by stall alarm)
 (2:41:49) Captain: Okay! Let me take the seat! Close the door! (pushes sidestick down)
 (2:42:01) Captain: Come on! (Right engine strikes ocean)
 (2:42:06) F/O: I think we struck something.
 (2:42:09) Captain: One of the engines could've hit the water. We're very near San Diego so let's continue on.
 (2:49:14) F/O: (Right engine flames out) Engine two powering down. San Diego Approach, Valkyrie 721, mayday, mayday. We lost one engine and we're declaring emergency right now, need vectors to available runway immediately.
 (2:49:26) San Diego ATC: Roger, Valkyrie 721, and also...runway is cleared for you to land. Turn right heading 210. Altitude, and speed at your discretion.
 (2:49:31) F/O: Right 210.
Category:Accidents