13 Years After Blast Brings Down 747

It's been almost 18 years since Air India Flight 182 (shown at gate, right, the morning of the disaster)exploded in flight, killing 329 passengers and crew. Finally, two Sikh militants accused in the bombing go on trial for murder Monday.

Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri are accused of being part of a Sikh terror cell based in Vancouver, Canada. That cell, say Canadian prosecutors, was responsible for the bombing off the coast of Ireland in 1985. It was the worst act of aviation terrorism until the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Authorities in Vancouver built a $7.2 million court facility specifically for this case (below).

Two Bombs, No Pax

Prosecutors say there were actually two bombs checked by a passenger who never got on a flight June 23, 1985. They were supposed to destroy two jetliners - a world apart. Instead, one of them destroyed Flight 182. The other exploded in a Tokyo baggage transfer facility, killing two workers and injuring several others.

Already, one man is serving time for the bombing. In June 2001, Canadian police arrested Inderjit Singh Reyat, who was serving the last weeks of a 10-year sentence for making the bomb that exploded at Japan's Narita Airport. In February, Reyat pleaded guilty to a reduced charged in the Flight 182 explosion. Reyat, who was sentenced to five years for manslaughter in the Flight 182 bombing, may testify at Malik and Bagri's trial. However, both he and Canadian prosecutors say Reyat is not a government witness.

Chronology

June 5, 1984 - Indian Army storms Sikhism's holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Hundreds of people are killed, Sikhs are enraged.

Oct. 31, 1984 - Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who ordered the raid, is assassinated by two Sikh bodyguards.

June 23, 1985 - Air India Flight 182 explodes in mid-air off the Atlantic coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people on board. 

June 23, 1985 - An hour earlier, a bomb explodes at Tokyo's new international airport at Narita killing two workers who were transferring luggage to an Air India flight.

May 9, 1991 - Inderjit Singh Reyat, a resident of Duncan (BC), is convicted of manslaughter by a Canadian court for helping to build the bomb that exploded in Narita. He is sentenced to 10 years in prison.

May 31, 1995 - The Royal Canadian Police offers a C$1 million reward for information, the biggest in the force's history.

Oct. 27, 2000 - Canadian police charge Ripudaman Singh Malik, of Vancouver, and Ajaib Singh Bagri, from Kamloops (BC), with murder for the Flight 182 and Narita bombings.

June 5, 2001 - Reyat is charged with murder for the Flight 182 bombing.

Feb. 10, 2003 - Reyat pleads guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter for buying material used to make the bomb that destroyed Flight 182 and is sentenced to five years in prison.

FMI: www.canada.justice.gc.ca