Flight 149: Hostage of War is on Showmax

28 August 2025

Flight 149: Hostage of War (2025)

On 2 August 1990, Saddam Hussein took the world by surprise by invading Kuwait. Four hours later, British Airways Flight 149, travelling from London to Malaysia, would make its scheduled stop in Kuwait City, where Saddam captured the plane, and broadcast to the entire world that the 367 passengers and 18 crew members on board were now his hostages.

For decades, UK authorities denied they knew the invasion had begun before the plane landed. Then, in 2023, an MI6 officer broke his silence, contradicting the official account. The hostages are now launching a legal case against the British government and British Airways in their search for the truth about why the plane landed in the first place.

Directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Jenny Ash (Osama Bin Laden: The Inside Story), Flight 149: Hostage of War features testimony from the hostages themselves, politicians from both sides of the Atlantic, and the Kuwaiti resistance who risked their lives to hide some of the hostages.

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