[3] The plane travelled to Lahore, then to Karachi and finally to Dubai, where the defence minister of the United Arab Emirates Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum negotiated the release of the passengers and the surrender of all hijackers to UAE authorities.

Indian Airlines Flight 421 took off from Palam Airport at New Delhi with 122 passengers, bound for Srinagar via Chandigarh and Jammu in the early hours of 24 August 1984.

On taking the cockpit, the hijackers forced the pilot to fly the aircraft to Amritsar and circle above the Golden Temple - the central shrine of the Sikh faith which had been raided in June that year by the Indian Army in an anti-terrorist operation.

At Lahore the aircraft had to circle the city for nearly 80 minutes before it was finally allowed to land by the Pakistani authorities at 9:50 AM due to dangerously low fuel levels.

[8] Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi spoke with Pakistani President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq and requested him not to allow the aircraft to leave Lahore airport.

On approaching Dubai airport, the UAE authorities refused permission to land, switching off the runway lights as well as the radio beacon, in spite of Mehta's repeated pleas.

By 5 AM the next morning, the aircraft was again facing dangerously low fuel levels and the flight crew made announcements asking all passengers to prepare for a water landing.

[8][9] At 8 AM, UAE Defence Minister, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, reached the airport's control tower and began negotiations with the hijackers.

At 10:05 AM, a white Mercedes car was sent to the aircraft and returned with one of the hijackers for face-to-face negotiations with Sheikh Rashid inside the airport terminal building.

At 12:35 PM, two ambulances were summoned to the aircraft when one of its passengers - K. Subrahmanyam, director of the Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis - complained that he required insulin injections for his diabetes.

[8][9] At 6:50 PM, Dubai Chief of Police Colonel Dahi Khalfan Tamim announced to the press that the hijackers had been put under protective custody and that they had surrendered unconditionally.