Two hijackers died from injuries after six Uyghur men armed with aluminum crutches and explosives attempted to hijack Tianjin Airlines Embraer ERJ-190, registration B-3171. Six minutes after takeoff, they attempted to get into the cockpit. Passengers and crew overcame the hijackers who were dressed as Tianjin Airline staff. Thirteen were injured: seven passengers, two air marshal security officers. two flight attendants, two hijackers. The flight was scheduled from Hotan to Ürümqi in China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region. As a consequence of this attempted hijacking, security measures and airport security was beefed up.
The separatist World Uyghur Congress claimed the incident did not happen and that the incident was an excuse to lock up Uyghurs.