Moore, middle, embraces her daughters

January 6, 2000
Web posted at: 12:06 a.m. EST (0506 GMT)

In this story: Abductors stood up with guns, grenades in hands 'Constantly we felt our lives were in danger' Hijacking will not change victim's lifestyle RELATED STORIES, SITES

BAKERSFIELD, California (CNN) -- The only U.S. citizen aboard the Indian air flight hijacked on Christmas Eve and held hostage for eight days says "there were always times when we thought this was the last minute."

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Jeanne Moore's recollection Wednesday included memories of mind-control manipulation at the hands of the hijackers inside the plane.

"The heat was turned up with the fumes and the stench, and I almost passed out. And then it was turned down so it was cold. And then there was no circulation of air," said the 53-year-old child therapist, mother and grandmother.

"And then the door was opened at some point and it was cold. And sometimes there was food and sometimes there wasn't. And sometimes it was 'don't move' and sometimes it was 'let's all pray together and hope for a good outcome.' "

Abductors stood up with guns, grenades in hands

The ordeal began December 24 when Indian Airlines Flight 814 was hijacked en route from Katmandu, Nepal, to New Delhi, with 189 people aboard.

"The first bit of unusualness I think on any flight would be men standing with grenades and guns in their hands. They also announced, 'This plane is hijacked.' They did a lot of running up and down the halls," Moore said.

No one had any idea how the five hijackers managed to get the guns and grenades aboard the plane, she said.

"There was a metal detector that all the bags had to go through, the same as at any other place. And I don't know how they got all that on. But they say they walked on."

'Constantly we felt our lives were in danger'

"I felt my life was in danger, along with 154 other people," said Moore. "Yes, constantly we felt our lives were in danger."

After landing in Amritsar, India, and Lahore, Pakistan, the plane was denied permission to land in Afghanistan and touched down at an air base outside Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

After releasing 33 people -- and the body of the one passenger slain during the incident -- the plane headed for Afghanistan and landed at the Kandahar airport.

Following protracted negotiations between the hijackers and Indian officials, the captors' demands for the release of three Kashmiri militants were met. The hijackers and newly freed militants headed toward the Pakistan border on New Year's Eve, and the passengers were then released.

Hijacking will not change victim's lifestyle

Moore said the hijacking would not keep her from attempting again to visit India.

"By golly, they're not going to interrupt my life plans, you know. It's not that that was so much a lifelong plan, but that was a plan that got pretty well interrupted . So, yeah, I'd like to go back," she said.

However, the act that ended the drama -Ð meeting some of the hijackers' demands Ð does trouble Moore, who fears it sets a precedent.

"From my side, yes, I'm glad to be here, but even at the same time, people shouldn't be reinforced positively for their bad behavior," she said.

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