List of aircraft hijackings
Encyclopedia
The following is a list of notable aircraft hijacking
s around the world.
a seaplane was hijacked and then crashed into the arl River Delta. The crash killed 25 of the 26 passengers and crew.
were simultaneously hijacked. All three planes landed at the US Air Force Base at Erding, West Germany. 26 of 85 passengers stayed in West Germany to escape from the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia.
December 2, 1959: the Panair do Brasil
Lockheed L-049/149 Constellation
registration PP-PCR operating flight 246 en route from Rio de Janeiro - Santos Dumont to Belém
, with 44 passengers and crew aboard, was seized and hijacked by officers of the Brazilian Air Force
and made to land at Aragarças
, Goiás
. Their intention was to use the aircraft in a bombing of Government buildings in Rio de Janeiro
, starting thus a revolt against President Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira
. The revolt faded after 36 hours and the aircraft was commanded to fly to Buenos Aires
where the hijackers request asylum. There were no casualties.
1961: Aircraft forced to circle Lisbon
to drop leaflets against the dictatorship that ruled the country. After that, the 6 hijackers forced the crew to fly them to Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles.
May 1, 1961: First U.S. Airline flight hijacked to Cuba. A National Airlines
Convair 440 flight from Marathon, Florida to Key West was hijacked by a man carrying a knife and a gun who demanded the flight divert to Havana. The aircraft, piloted by Captain Francis X. Riley, was thought to be lost at sea for several hours before authorities learned it had been hijacked.
July 23, 1968: To date, the only successful El Al
hijacking attempt, as three members of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
(PFLP) hijack El Al Flight 426
from Rome to Tel Aviv
. Diverting to Algiers
the negotiations extend over forty days. Both the hijackers and the hostages go free.
November 24, 1968: Luis Armando Pena Soltren, Jose Rafael Rios Cruz and Miguel Castro coerced the pilot of Pan Am Flight 281
out of New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on a scheduled route to Puerto Rico to divert to Havana, Cuba. Passengers were evacuated from Cuba by a U.S. State Department aircraft. There were no fatalities.
October 8, 1969: a Cruzeiro do Sul
Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI R
en route from Belém-Val de Cães
to Manaus-Ponta Pelada
was hijacked by 4 persons who demanded to be flown to Cuba
. The hijack lasted less than a day and there were no casualties.
November 12, 1969: a Cruzeiro do Sul
NAMC YS-11/11A
en route from Manaus-Ponta Pelada
to Belém-Val de Cães
was hijacked by a person who demanded to be flown to Cuba
. There were no casualties.
December 11, 1969: a Korean Air Lines YS-11 en route from Gangneung
to Seoul
-Gimpo
was hijacked by a North Korean agent and flown to North Korea
. All four crew members and seven of the 46 other passengers (excluding the agent) were held hostage by North Korea; their fate is still unknown.
January 1, 1970: a Cruzeiro do Sul
Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI R
en route from Montevideo
to Rio de Janeiro, with 33 occupants aboard, was hijacked by 6 persons who demanded to be flown to Cuba
. The flight was diverted to Lima
, Panama City
and arrived in Havana
two days later. There were no casualties.
March 17, 1970: Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320
, carrying passengers from Newark
to Boston
was hijacked around 7:30 P.M. by John J. Divivo who was armed with a .38 caliber revolver. Captain Robert Wilbur Jr., 35, a former Air Force pilot who had only been promoted to captain six months prior, was shot in his arm by the suicidal hijacker. With a .38 slug in his arm and bleeding profusely, he flew his aircraft safely to a landing while talking to the tower, telling them his copilot was shot (but not himself) and needed an ambulance. His copilot, First Officer James Hartley, 31, was shot without warning by Divivo and collapsed. Divivo then turned the gun on the captain, causing his arm injury. Despite being fatally wounded Hartley recovered sufficiently to rip the gun from Divivo's hand, and shoot the would-be hijacker three times before lapsing into unconsciousness, and eventually death. Although wounded and slumped between the seats, Divivo arose and began clawing at Captain Wilbur, attempting to force a crash. Wilbur hit Divivo over the head with the gun he had retrieved from the center console. The pilot was able to land the plane safely at Logan International Airport
, and the hijacker was arrested immediately. On November 1, 1970, DiVivo hanged himself while awaiting trial at Charles Street Jail
.
March 31, 1970: Japan Airlines Flight 351
, carrying 131 passengers and 7 crew from Tokyo to Fukuoka
, is hijacked by nine members of the Japanese Red Army
group. 23 passengers were freed at Fukuoka Airport
, mainly children or old aged. 108 passengers and all crew members with Red Army group left Fukuoka, bound for Gimpo Airport, near Seoul
. Three days after, Red Army group ask to be flown to North Korean capital Pyongyang
, before leaving from Seoul
, 103 passenger and crew hostages are freed, and nine Red Army group members surrendered to North Korean authorities.
July 1, 1970: a Cruzeiro do Sul
Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI R
registration PP-PDX en route from Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo
with 31 occupants was hijacked by 4 persons who demanded the release of political prisoners that were to be taken to Cuba
. The aircraft was stormed and hijackers arrested. There were no casualties and the hijack lasted less than a day.
July 4, 1970: a Cruzeiro do Sul
NAMC YS-11
en route from Belém-Val de Cães
to Macapá
was hijacked by 1 person and flown to Cayenne
, Georgetown
, Trinidad and Tobago
, Antigua
and Jamaica
.
September 1970: As part of the Dawson's Field hijackings
, PFLP members attempted to hijack four aircraft simultaneously. They succeeded on three and forced the planes to fly to the Jordan
ian desert, where the hijackers blew up the aircraft after releasing most of the hostages. The final hostages were freed in exchange for seven Palestinian prisoners. The fourth attack on an El Al
plane by two people including Leila Khalid was foiled by the pilots, passengers and armed guards aboard.
October 15, 1970: Aeroflot Flight 244
was hijacked from Batumi
, Adjar ASSR
, Georgian SSR, to Trabzon
, Turkey
by a Lithuania
n national and his son. An air hostess was killed and some other crew were injured in a shootout. The hijackers later received American citizenship.
January 30, 1971: Indian Airlines Fokker F27
on scheduled Srinagar
-Jammu
flight is hijacked to Lahore
by two self-proclaimed Kashmir Separatists. All passengers were released by February 2 and repatriated to India, but the aircraft was blown-up—leading to an India-Pakistan air-travel ban, and suspension of overflight rights until 1976.
March, 1971: Philippine Airlines
flight was hijacked in March 1971 by six students from the Mindanao State University, opposed to the Marcos
government. The plane landed in Guangzhou
(Canton) in southern China, and the Chinese authorities let the students stay in the country. The plane was then allowed to fly back to the Philippines. No one was hurt.
May 1971: an IL-14 with 4 staff members and 16 passengers was hijacked by 6 men at the Oradea
Airport (Romania
), then forced to flew to Budapest
(Hungary
), then Vienna
(Austria
). The passengers and the crew were released in Vienna, while the hijackers flew to West Germany.
A Pakistan Air Force
T-33
trainer was hijacked on August 20, 1971 during Bangladesh Liberation War
(before Indo-Pakistani war of 1971
) in Karachi
when a Bengali
instructor pilot, Flight Lieutenant
Matiur Rahman
, knocked out the young Pilot Officer
Rashid Minhas
with the intention of defecting to India
with the plane and national secrets to join Mukti Bahini
in Bangladesh Liberation War
. On regaining consciousness in mid-flight, Rashid Minhas
struggled for flight control as well as relayed the news of his hijack to the PAF
base. In the end of the ensuing struggle he succeeded to crash his aircraft into the ground near Thatta
on seeing no way to prevent the hijack and the defection. He was posthumously awarded Pakistan's highest military award Nishan-e-Haider
(Sign of the Lion) for his act of bravery. For his attempt to defect from the Pakistan Air Force to join Bangladesh Liberation War
, Matiur Rahman
was decorated with the Bir Sreshtho
award by Bangladesh which is their highest honor given.
November, 1971: Charles Hill, Ralph Lawernce, and Albert Finney were driving a carload of weapons to Louisiana as part of the Republic of New Afrika militant group. They murdered New Mexico State Police officer Robert Rosenbloom during a traffic stop and escaped to Albuquerque where they hijacked a TWA 727 to Cuba.
November 24, 1971: A man who became known as D. B. Cooper
hijacked Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305, a Boeing 727-100 aircraft flying from Portland, OR, to Seattle, WA, received US$200,000 in ransom, and parachuted from the plane. The actual name of the hijacker remains unknown. The hijacker revealed what appeared to be a bomb to a flight attendant and demanded the ransom and parachutes. The flight landed in Seattle, and FBI agents provided the ransom money and parachutes. Cooper then released all passengers and one flight attendant. After refueling, the aircraft took off again and flew toward Reno, NV. Cooper opened the aft stairs and jumped from the plane with a parachute during a heavy rainstorm. The aircraft was forced to land with the aft stairs deployed. The FBI believes Cooper most likely did not survive, but the case remains unsolved.
January 12, 1972: Braniff
Flight 38
, a Boeing 727
, was hijacked as it departed Houston, Texas
bound for Dallas, Texas
. The lone armed hijacker, Billy Gene Hurst, Jr., allowed all 94 passengers to deplane after landing at Dallas Love Field but continued to hold the 7 crewmembers hostage, demanding to fly to South America and asking for US $2 million, parachute
s, and jungle survival gear, amongst other items. After a 6-hour standoff, the entire crew secretly fled while Hurst was distracted examining the contents of a package delivered by Dallas police
. Police officers stormed the craft shortly afterwards and arrested Hurst without serious incident.
January 28, 1972: TWA
Flight 2, Los Angeles to New York, was hijacked by con man and bank robber Garrett Trapnell
while over Chicago. Trapnell demanded $306,800 in cash (to recoup the loss of a recent court case), the release of Angela Davis
(as well as that of a friend of his who was also imprisoned), and clemency from President Richard Nixon
. The FBI was able to retake the aircraft during a crew switch at Kennedy Airport; Trapnell was shot and wounded, no one else was hurt. Trapnell's hijacking came after a string of domestic incidents and resulted in an overhaul of flight procedures by the Nixon Administration, procedures that remained in place until the September 11, 2001 hijackings. Trapnell and unrelated hijacker Martin J. McNally (see June 23, 1972 below) attempted to escape Marion federal prison on May 24, 1978, after Trapnell's girlfriend Barbara Ann Oswald hijacked a helicopter and ordered it to Marion but that hijacking ended when the pilot grabbed the woman's gun and killed Oswald. On December 21, 1978 Oswald's 17-year-old daughter Robin Oswald hijacked TWA Flight 541
in another attempt to rescue Trapnell. She surrendered after 10 hours of negotiations at the airport in Marion.
June 3, 1972: Western Airlines
Flight 701 from Los Angeles
to Seattle was hijacked by Black Panthers Willie Roger Holder, a black Vietnam veteran, and Catherine Marie Kerkow. The hijackers claimed they had a bomb in an attache case and demanded $500,000. After allowing all 97 passengers to get off in San Francisco, they flew to Algeria where they were granted political asylum. The Algerian government confiscated and returned $488,000 of the ransom money to US officials.
June 23, 1972: In the 9th copycat D.B. Cooper-style hijacking Martin J. McNally under the pseudonym of Robert W. Wilson hijacked St. Louis-Tulsa American Airlines Flight 119 on a Boeing 727 and demands $502,500. The plane flew back and forth between Tulsa and St. Louis while the loot was raised. While at St. Louis Lambert Airport a man after seeing the television news coverage of the case crashed at 80 mph through the airport fence into the plane struts in a Cadillac convertible. The hijacker transferred to a new 727 and jumped out of the plane over Indiana. The full loot bag and gun was discovered by searchers near Peru, Indiana
. Fingerprints led to McNally. While in Marion Federal Prison McNally and fellow inmate and hijacker Garrett Trapnell
(see January 28, 1972 above) on May 24, 1978 were involved in an attempted prison escape after Trapnell's girlfriend hijacked a helicopter. The escape attempt ended when the helicopter pilot grabbed the woman's gun and killed her. McNally was paroled from prison January 27, 2010.
July 31, 1972: Delta Air Lines Flight 841
was hijacked by five members of the Black Liberation Army
including the elusive George Wright
. The flight was originally from Detroit to Miami. The hijackers exchanged the passengers for $1 million in Miami and forced the plane to fly to Boston, then Algeria who returned the plane and cash but released the hijackers.
November 10, 1972: Southern Airways Flight 49
, was hijacked by three men and flown to multiple locations in the United States, and one Canadian city. At one point, the hijackers threatened to fly the plane into the nuclear reactor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory
, if their demands for $10 million in cash were not met. While stopped for refueling at McCoy Air Force Base
, Orlando
, the FBI shot out the plane's tires, prompting the hijackers to force pilot William Haas to take off. The hijacking came to an end when the plane landed on a partially foam-covered runway in Havana
, Cuba, and the hijackers were captured after attempting to escape.
April 24, 1973: SAS DC 9 - Gunder Viking - with registration number LN-RLO on route from Torslanda, Gothenburg, Sweden, to Stockholm, Sweden, was hijacked five minutes after take off by 3 armed Croatian terrorists connected to Ustasja. The plane was ordered to land at Bulltofta airport, Malmö, Sweden. 86 passengers and 4 crew members were held hostage until the next morning when the hostages were released in exchange for 500 000 Swedish Kronor and seven Croatian terrorists imprisoned in Sweden. The last passenger could leave the plane unharmed after 16 hours. The plane and crew was then ordered to fly to Madrid, Spain, where the hijackers later were to be put on trial.
April 24, 1973: The hijacking attempt of Aeroflot
Tu-104 flying from Leningrad
to Moscow
. When flight attendant tried to disarm the hijacker, the bomb detonated, killing both and causing the decompression. The crew made an emergency landing in Leningrad, the plane was written off.
May 18, 1973: Another hijacking attempt of Aeroflot
Tu-104 flying from Irkutsk
to Chita. The terrorist demanded the plane be diverted to China. The bomb detonated and the plane crashed near Lake Baikal, killing all 82 people on board.
October 31, 1973: The Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape, in which three members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army
(IRA) were allowed to escape from Mountjoy Prison
in Dublin, Ireland
aboard a hijacked
light helicopter
; prison guards initially presumed the vehicle was carrying government officials.
November 25, 1973: A KLM Boeing 747
, "Mississippi", was hijacked by three young Arabs over Iraq
i airspace on a scheduled Amsterdam
-Tokyo
flight with 247 passengers on board. After the hijackers threatened to blow up the plane when no country would grant landing permission, the plane landed in Malta. Most of the passengers and the eight stewardesses were released after negotiations with the Maltese PM
Dom Mintoff
who argued with the hijackers that the plane could not possibly take off with both the passengers and the 27,000 gallons of fuel they had demanded given the (then) short runway. With 11 passengers on board the jumbo jet left Malta to Dubai where the incident ended without fatalities.
June 27 - July 4, 1976: The hijack of Air France
Flight 139 on June 27, 1976, by members of the militant organizations Revolutionary Cells
and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - External Operations
was brought to an end on July 4 at Entebbe Airport
, Uganda
by Operation Entebbe
: Israel
i commandos assaulted the building holding the hijackers and hostages, killing all Palestinian hijackers and rescuing 105 persons, almost all Israeli hostages. However three passengers and one commando were killed.
September 10, 1976: TWA Flight 355
was hijacked by Croatian separatists. Some passengers were allowed to deplane in Canada before the hijackers continued on to Iceland, then France, where they released the remaining passengers and surrendered to authorities. One New York police officer was killed while working on a bomb which the hijackers had planted at Grand Central Station.
1977: Lufthansa Flight 181
(also known as the Landshut) was hijacked by Palestinian highjackers on a flight from Palma de Mallorca
to Frankfurt
. The ordeal ended in Mogadishu
, Somalia
when GSG 9
and S.A.S commandos stormed the plane. Three hijackers were killed and 86 hostages were freed. The pilot was killed. The hand of West Germany's Red Army Faction
was suspected.
December 4, 1977: Suspected lone member of Japanese Red Army
hijacked Malaysia Airlines Flight 653
. The Boeing 737 then crashed, killing all on board after he shot both pilots and himself. 100 people died.
March 13, 1978: United Flight 696 was hijacked by a lone American immediately after takeoff out of KSFO. The aircraft landed in Oakland and the release of cabin crew and passengers was negotiated by the flight crew. The fueling was cut short by the hijacker and Flt 696 took off only partially refueled. Flight 696 landed in Denver to take on more fuel for Cuba. While waiting for the fuel, the cockpit crew jumped from the cockpit to escape the hijacker. The hijacker surrendered to the FBI within minutes of the crews escape. No fatalities but the three cockpit crew-members suffered fractures and torn cartilage from the unassisted 2 story leap.
August 30, 1978: LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165
was hijacked by two East Germans in order to escape to West Berlin
. There were no casualties, the hijackers surrendered and were tried by never-before-convened United States Court for Berlin.
September 30, 1978: Finnair Flight 405
was hijacked by Aarno Lamminparras; the flight was en route from Oulu
to Helsinki
. He requested a ransom of 675,000 markka, which he received, and as a result he released all 44 passengers on board. Then he ordered the plane to fly him to Amsterdam
in the Netherlands and then back to Oulu. He returned home and was arrested there the next day. He served seven years and one month in prison and now lives in Sweden. One of the passengers on board the hijacked plane was singer Monica Aspelund
.
December 20, 1978: Two Hindus, Devendra Nath Pandey and Bhola Nath Pandey hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-410. They demanded the immediate release of Indian National Congress party leader Indira Gandhi who was imprisoned at that time on the charges of fraud and misconduct. Later, they were awarded with party tickets for this act by the Indira Gandhi government in 1980 such that Devendra Nath Pandey rose to become a minister in the government of most populous state of India, Uttar Pradesh. This case was also mentioned by Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale to justify his claim regarding the hypocrisy of the Indian government.
December 21, 1978: 17-year-old Robin Oswald hijacked TWA Flight 541
flying from Louisville to Kansas City claiming she had three sticks of dynamite. The plane landed at Williamson County Regional Airport
where she hoped to seek the release of Garrett Trapnell
who was serving time at Marion Federal Penitentiary. Trapnell was serving time for a January 28, 1972 hijacking (see January 28, 1972 above). On May 24, 1978 her mother Barbara Ann Oswald was killed after hijacking a helicopter in an attempt to rescue Trapnell. Robin eventually surrendered at the Williamson Airport. The dynamite was revealed to be flares.
jet is hijacked and taken to Kabul
, where one passenger is killed before the plane flies on to Damascus
; the hostages are finally released after 13 days when the Pakistani Government agrees to free fifty political prisoners.
1981: The Hijacking of Flight Garuda Indonesia
GA 206 on March 28, 1981. This was the first serious Indonesian airline hijacking, since the first case was a desperate Marine hijacker who was killed by the pilot himself. The hijackers, a group called Commando Jihad, hijacked the DC 9 "Woyla", onroute from Palembang
to Medan
, and ordered the pilot to fly the plane to Colombo
, Sri Lanka. But since the plane didn't have enough fuel, it refueled in Penang
, Malaysia and then to Don Muang, Thailand. The hijackers demanded the release of Commando Jihad members imprisoned in Indonesia, and US $ 1.5 million, as well as a plane to take those prisoners to an unspecified destination. The Kopassus
commandos who took part in this mission trained for only three days with totally unfamiliar weapons, brilliantly executed this fast-paced operation. One of the Kopassus commandos was shot by the hijacker leader, who then shot himself. All the other hijackers were killed. All the hostages were saved.
} 1981: Aer Lingus Flight 164
from Dublin to London was hijacked and diverted to Le Touquet in France by a man demanding that the Pope
release the third secret of Fatima
. While authorities negotiated with the hijacker by radio in the cockpit, French special forces entered the rear of the aircraft and overpowered him.
February 25, 1982: Kuwait Airways
Flight KU561 from Kuwait
to Beirut
to Libya
(return flight to Libya) was hijacked on the ground in Beirut
, Lebanon
with 150 aboard by Hamza akl Hamieh, demanding news and release of Imam Musa al Sadr, founder of the Islamic terrorist group AMAL
, who had disappeared in Libya in 1978. The terrorists surrendered when a Shiite leader promised that Islamic leaders from Lebanon, Syria, Algeria, and Iran would form delegations to press their case at the United Nations
and the International Court of Justice
. Viewing them as heroes, Lebanese security officials released the hijackers, and when Western aviation officials asked the government where they had gone, a Lebanese official said "They have gone home - they are probably sipping hot coffee with their kin." After they left the plane and disappeared into the night, Captain Les Bradley flew the damaged plane back to Kuwait, telling them that they warned Kuwait Airways to drop this route. There were no casualties.
July 1, 1982: A Sri Lanka
n, identified as Sepala Ekanayake
, who was 33 years old, hijacked an Alitalia
jumbo jet from Bangkok
, Thailand
, in order to be united with his wife and child and to return to Sri Lanka.
August 22, 1982: A lone Sikh
militant, armed with a pistol and a hand grenade, hijacked an Indian Airlines on a scheduled flight from Mumbai
to New Delhi carrying 69 persons. Indian security forces killed the hijacker and rescued all passengers. Peter Lamont
, production designer working on the James Bond
film Octopussy
, was a passenger.
1983: Tbilisi hijacking incident
.
February 3, 1984: a Cruzeiro do Sul
Airbus A300B4-203
flight 302 en route from São Luís
to Belém-Val de Cães
with 176 passengers and crew aboard was hijacked by 3 persons who demanded to be taken to Cuba
. The flight reached Camagüey
in less than a day. There were no victims.
August 1, 1984, a Air France
Boeing 737-200 enroute from Frankfurt
to Paris
with 82 passengers and crew aboard was hijacked by 3 pirates who demanded to be taken to Tehran
. They were Arab protesters against military cooperation between France
and Iraq
on the Iran-Iraq war
context. One steward escaped to the hijacker in Larnaka. The hijacking duration was 48 hours. Terrorist destroy the aircraft by explosives in front of the TV cameras. They were no victims. Strangely, the terrorist were taken in big black limousine and disapperaed in Iran.
August 24, 1984: Seven young Sikh
hijackers demanded an Indian Airlines jetliner flying from Delhi
to Srinagar
be flown to the United Arab Emirates. The plane was taken to UAE where the defense minister of UAE negotiated the release of the passengers. It was related to the Sikh secessionist struggle in the Indian state of Punjab
.
December 3, 1984: Kuwait Airways Flight 221 Lebanese
Shi'a hijackers divert a Kuwait Airways
flight to Tehran
. Two American USAID officials are shot dead and dumped on the tarmac. The plane is taken by Iran
ian security forces who were dressed as custodial staff.
1985: Lebanese Shi'a Amal
hijackers divert TWA Flight 847
from Athens
to Beirut
with 153 people on board. The stand-off ends after Israel
frees 31 Lebanese prisoners. Among the passengers was famous Greek singer Demis Roussos
. US Navy diver Robert Stethem
is tortured and murdered.
1985: Three Palestinian
members of the Abu Nidal Organization hijacked on November 23, its Athens
to Cairo
route, EgyptAir Flight 648
and fly it to Malta
. All together, 60 people died, most of them when Egyptian commandos stormed the aircraft.
1986: 22 people are killed when Pakistan
i security forces storm Pan Am Flight 73
at Karachi
, carrying 400 passengers and crew after a 16-hour siege.
December 25, 1986: 63 people are killed when Iraqi Airways Flight 163
crashes near Arar
, Saudi Arabia
due to an explosion in the cockpit. The plane was hijacked by 3 hijackers.
March 8, 1988: Ovechkin family (a mother and her 10 children) attempted to hijack a Tu 154 flight from Irkutsk
to Leningrad
while trying to escape from the USSR. The plane landed on a military airfield near Vyborg
and was then stormed. A stewardess and three passengers were killed. The mother was killed by one of her sons by her own request, then four of them committed suicide.
September 29, 1988: a man hijacked a VASP
Boeing 737-300
registration PP-SNT operating flight 375 en route from Belo Horizonte-Pampulha to Rio de Janeiro
. He wanted to force a crash on the Palácio do Planalto
, the official presidential workplace in Brasília
. The pilot convinced the hijacker to divert to Goiânia
where an emergency landing was made. The hijack ended with 1 victim.
1988: Two Kuwait
is are killed in 1988 when Lebanese
gunmen hijack a Kuwait Airways Flight 422 (aljabriya) from Bangkok
, Thailand
and force it to fly to Algiers
with more than 110 people on board; the hijack ends after 16 days when the hijackers free the remaining hostages and are allowed to leave Algiers.
March 29, 1989: Two teenagers from Czechoslovakia
armed with grenades and shotguns hijack Malév Hungarian Airlines
Flight 640 at Prague Ruzyně Airport, and fly the Tupolev Tu-154B with 15 hostages to Frankfurt Airport
before surrendering.
, killing 128 people.
March 26, 1991: Singapore Airlines Flight 117
hijacked by 4 individuals claiming to be members of the Pakistan Peoples Party
. Elite Singapore Special Operations Force
members stormed the plane on 27 March, killing all four hijackers and freeing all 118 passengers and 9 crew in an operation lasting just 30 seconds. None of the passengers and crew were hurt.
February 11, 1993: Lufthansa Flight 592
scheduled service from Frankfurt
to Cairo
and Addis Ababa
, was hijacked at gunpoint by Nebiu Demeke, an Ethiopia
n man. The A310 initially flew to Hannover for fuel before flying to New York's JFK
where the hijacker surrendered after brief negotiations. No passengers or crew were injured or killed.
1993:Two separate hijackings of Indian Airlines aircraft to Amritsar
, Punjab, India in the month of April. In the first case the hijacker was talked into surrendering; in the second, the Commandos stormed in and killed the sole hijacker. The Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Karan Bir Singh Sidhu was conferred the Convoy Safe Skies Award.
1993: Russian Aeroflot passenger jet flying from Perm to Moscow diverted to Gardermoen airport by two Iranian brothers. Hijackers surrendered and hostages went free. The hijackers were later given asylum in Norway for humanitarian reasons.
1994: FedEx Flight 705
hijacked by disgruntled employee Auburn Calloway as it left Memphis, Tennessee
, with the intention of using it as a cruise missile
against FedEx HQ. He was subdued by the flight crew before an emergency landing back at Memphis.
1994: Air France Flight 8969
was hijacked from Algiers
by four GIA
terrorists planning to crash into the Eiffel Tower
in central Paris. After the murder of 3 passengers, GIGN commandos stormed the plane in Marseilles, killing all hijackers and freeing all passengers.
1995: Russian cargo jet flying from Tirana
to Kabul
was forced to land in Kandahar
by Taliban forces. Jet's crew had been held in a captivity until escape in 1996.
1995: Iran
ian defector and flight attendant Rida Garari
hijacked Kish Air
flight 707, which landed in Israel
. No casualties.
1996: Hemus Air
Tu-154 aircraft was hijacked by the Palestinian Nadir Abdallah, flying from Beirut
to Varna
. The hijacker demanded that the aircraft be refuelled and given passage to Oslo
, Norway after landing at Varna Airport
. All of the 150 passengers were freed at Varna, afterwards the crew continued the flight to Oslo, where the hijacker surrendered and asked for political assylum.
1996: Ethiopian Airlines
Flight 961
crashed into the Indian Ocean near a beach in the Comoros Islands after hijackers refused to allow the pilot to land and refuel the plane. 125 passengers died and the remaining 50 passengers survived with minor injuries. This was the third incident in which there were survivors of a passenger jet that had been intentionally ditched into a body of water.
1997: Two men who hijacked Air Malta Flight 830 en route from Malta
to Turkey
on June 9, 1997 surrendered to police at Cologne
airport early on the same day and freed without incident about 80 crew members and passengers on board.
1999: All Nippon Airways Flight 61
is hijacked by a lone man. He kills the pilot before he is subdued.
1999-2000: Pakistan
-based terrorists hijack Indian Airlines Flight 814
en route from Kathmandu and divert it to Amritsar
, Lahore
, Dubai
and finally Kandahar
. After a week-long stand-off India
agrees to release three jailed Pakistani terrorists in exchange for the hostages. 1 hostage was stabbed to death and his body thrown on the tarmac as a "warning attack".
2000: Ariana Afghan Airlines
Boeing 727
is hijacked on an internal flight within Taliban-controlled Afghanistan
, and ended up at London Stansted Airport
, where most of the passengers claimed political asylum.
2000: Philippine Airlines Flight 812
was hijacked en route from Davao City
, Philippines
to Manila
. The hijacker parachuted from the aircraft while still airborne; his body was later found.
2000, August 18: a VASP
Boeing 737-2A1
registration PP-SMG en route from Foz do Iguaçu
to Curitiba-Afonso Pena
was hijacked by 5 persons with the purpose of robbing BRL 5 million (approximately USD 2.75 Million) that the aircraft was transporting. The pilot was forced to land at Porecatu
where the hijackers fled with the money. There were no victims.
2000, October 14: Saudi Arabian Airlines
Flight 115, flying from Jeddah
to London
was hijacked en route by two men who claimed they were armed with explosives. The hijackers commandeered the Boeing 777
-200 to Baghdad
, Iraq
, where all 90 passengers and 15 crew members were safely released. The two hijackers, identified as Lieutenant Faisal Naji Hamoud Al-Bilawi and First Lieutenant Ayesh Ali Hussein Al-Fareedi, both Saudi citizens, were arrested and later extradited to Saudi Arabia in 2003.
2000, 11 November: an Vnukovo Airlines
Tu-154 flying from Makhachkala
to Moscow
was hijacked by a man demanding it be diverted to Israel. The plane landed at an Israeli military base where hijacker surrendered. None of 59 people on board were injured.
2001, 15 March: another Vnukovo Airlines
Tu-154 flying from Istanbul
to Moscow
was hijacked by a three Chechen terrorists
demanding it be diverted to Saudi Arabia. After the plane with 174 people on board landed at Medina the terrorist threatened to blow it up unless it would be refuelled for flying to Afghanistan. The Saudi authorities decided to storm the plane. During the assault 2 people were killed by Saudi police: one of the passengers (Turkish citizen), and the leader of the terrorists. The stewardess, Yulia Fomina, was killed during the hijacking, and later the plane was named after her.
2001: American Airlines flight 11
, United Airlines Flight 175
, American Airlines Flight 77
, United Airlines Flight 93
, were hijacked on the morning of September 11 by Al-Qaeda
-affiliated Islamic extremists. Two planes were deliberately crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, one was crashed into the Pentagon and one crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Both towers of The World Trade Center collapsed; in total 2,976 victims and 19 hijackers were killed and over 6000 people were injured. The hijacking leads to The war on Afghanistan
2006: Turkish Airlines Flight 1476
, flying from Tirana
to Istanbul
, was hijacked in Greek airspace. The aircraft, with 107 passengers and six crew on board, transmitted two coded hijack signals which were picked up by the Greek air force; the flight was intercepted by military aircraft and landed safely at Brindisi
, Italy.
2007: an Air West
Boeing 737 was hijacked over
Sudan
, but landed safely at N'Djamena
, Chad
.
2007: an Air Mauritanie
Boeing 737
flying from Nouakchott
to Las Palmas
with 87 passengers on board was hijacked by a man who wanted to fly to Paris, but the plane landed in an air base near Las Palmas and the hijacker, a Moroccan
, was arrested.
2007: an Atlasjet
MD-80 en route from Nicosia
to Istanbul
was hijacked by two Arab students, who said they were Al Qaeda operatives, one trained in Afghanistan, and wanted to go to Tehran
, Iran
. The plane landed in Antalya
, the passengers escaped and the hijackers were arrested.
2008: a Sun Air
Boeing 737
flying from Nyala, Darfur, in Western Sudan to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, was hijacked shortly after takeoff. The hijackers demanded to be taken to France where they reputedly wanted to gain asylum. The plane initially tried to land at Cairo
but was refused permission. It subsequently touched down at Kufra
, Libya
. The hijackers gave themselves up almost 24 hours after taking the plane. There were no reported casualties.
2009: CanJet Flight 918
, a Boeing 737-800 preparing to depart from the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica to Canada was hijacked by a gunman who forced his way through airport security onto the plane. His main motive was a demand to the crew to fly him to Cuba
. Most of the passengers on the plane gave him money to buy their freedom. For the rest of the night, negotiations took place as 6 crew members were held hostage in the flight for several hours. Quick responses from the police force allowed them to disarm the hijacker and arrest him. There were no casualties.
2009: AeroMéxico
Flight 576
, a Boeing 737-800 flying from Cancún
to Mexico City was hijacked by José Marc Flores Pereira, a Bolivia
n citizen claiming he had a bomb and demanding to speak to Mexican president Felipe Calderón
. The plane landed at Mexico City International Airport
where it then taxied to a remote stand where the passengers and crew were later released. Mexican officials stormed the plane where 5 men were taken into custody with only 1 being held. There were no casualties. It was the first hijackings for the airline.
January 2011: Turkish Airlines Flight 1754, flying from Oslo
to Istanbul
, was in Bulgarian airspace when, allegedly, an unsuccessful attempt was made to hijack it. The suspect allegedly said that he had a bomb and that he would blow up the aircraft unless the plane returned to Norway. Some passengers overpowered the hijacker and the flight safely landed at Atatürk International Airport
at 9:30 p.m after the pilot notified emergency service. All 60 passengers and seven crew got off the aircraft; none were injured during the incident. The suspect was arrested.
April 2011: an attempt was made to hijack Alitalia Flight 329, en-route from Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris
, France
to Fiumicino Airport, Rome
and divert it to Tripoli International Airport
, Libya
. The hijacker, reported to be an advisor to the Kazakhstan
delegation to UNESCO
, was subdued by cabin crew and other passengers. He was arrested and taken into custody after the aircraft made a safe landing at Rome.
Aircraft hijacking
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
s around the world.
1940s
July 16, 1948: Miss MacaoMiss Macao
Miss Macao was a Catalina seaplane, owned by Cathay Pacific and operated by a subsidiary. On 16 July 1948 she became the victim of the first hijacking of a commercial aircraft...
a seaplane was hijacked and then crashed into the arl River Delta. The crash killed 25 of the 26 passengers and crew.
1950s
March 24, 1950; three Douglas DC-3s from CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
were simultaneously hijacked. All three planes landed at the US Air Force Base at Erding, West Germany. 26 of 85 passengers stayed in West Germany to escape from the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia.
December 2, 1959: the Panair do BrasilPanair do Brasil
Panair do Brasil is a defunct airline of Brazil. Between 1945 and 1965 it was considered to be the largest carrier not only in Brazil but in all of Latin America.-NYRBA do Brasil :...
Lockheed L-049/149 Constellation
Lockheed Constellation
The Lockheed Constellation was a propeller-driven airliner powered by four 18-cylinder radial Wright R-3350 engines. It was built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. A total of 856 aircraft were produced in numerous models, all distinguished by a...
registration PP-PCR operating flight 246 en route from Rio de Janeiro - Santos Dumont to Belém
Val de Cães International Airport
Belém-Val de Cães/Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport is the main airport serving Belém, Brazil. Val de Cães, the name of the neighborhood where the airport is located, is the most common spelling although Val de Cans is also considered correct...
, with 44 passengers and crew aboard, was seized and hijacked by officers of the Brazilian Air Force
Brazilian Air Force
The Brazilian Air Force is the air branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces and one of the three national uniformed services. The FAB was formed when the Army and Navy air branch were merged into a single military force initially called "National Air Forces"...
and made to land at Aragarças
Aragarças
Aragarças is a small town and municipality in southwest Goiás state, Brazil.-Location:Aragarças is the most important town in the Aragarças Microregion. It is 410 km...
, Goiás
Goiás
Goiás is a state of Brazil, located in the central part of the country. The name Goiás comes from the name of an indigenous community...
. Their intention was to use the aircraft in a bombing of Government buildings in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, starting thus a revolt against President Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira
Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira
Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira , known also by his initials JK, was a prominent Brazilian politician of gypsy Czech origin who was President of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. He was born in Diamantina, Minas Gerais, and died in 1976...
. The revolt faded after 36 hours and the aircraft was commanded to fly to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
where the hijackers request asylum. There were no casualties.
1960s
July 19, 1960: In Australia's first hijacking, a man threatened to blow up Trans Australia Airlines Flight 408, but was disarmed by a member of the crew and a passenger.1961: Aircraft forced to circle Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
to drop leaflets against the dictatorship that ruled the country. After that, the 6 hijackers forced the crew to fly them to Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles.
May 1, 1961: First U.S. Airline flight hijacked to Cuba. A National Airlines
National Airlines (NA)
National Airlines was an airline founded in 1934 and was headquartered on the grounds of Miami International Airport in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States near Miami.- History :...
Convair 440 flight from Marathon, Florida to Key West was hijacked by a man carrying a knife and a gun who demanded the flight divert to Havana. The aircraft, piloted by Captain Francis X. Riley, was thought to be lost at sea for several hours before authorities learned it had been hijacked.
July 23, 1968: To date, the only successful El Al
El Al
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd , trading as El Al , is the flag carrier of Israel. It operates scheduled domestic and international services and cargo flights to Europe, North America, Africa and the Far East from its main base in Ben Gurion International Airport...
hijacking attempt, as three members of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist organisation founded in 1967. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization , the largest being Fatah...
(PFLP) hijack El Al Flight 426
El Al Flight 426
El Al Flight 426 was an El Al passenger flight hijacked on July 23, 1968 by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, setting off a wave of skyjacking by this organization.- History :...
from Rome to Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
. Diverting to Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
the negotiations extend over forty days. Both the hijackers and the hostages go free.
November 24, 1968: Luis Armando Pena Soltren, Jose Rafael Rios Cruz and Miguel Castro coerced the pilot of Pan Am Flight 281
Pan Am Flight 281
Pan Am Flight 281 was a regularly scheduled Pan Am flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was hijacked on November 24, 1968, by 4 men from JFK International Airport, New York to Havana, Cuba....
out of New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on a scheduled route to Puerto Rico to divert to Havana, Cuba. Passengers were evacuated from Cuba by a U.S. State Department aircraft. There were no fatalities.
October 8, 1969: a Cruzeiro do SulServiços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul
Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul, was the second oldest airline of Brazil, tracing its origins to 1927, when it was founded as Syndicato Condor, a subsidiary of Deutsche Luft Hansa. Syndicato Condor retained rights and interests of a former German trade company, Condor Syndikat, which previously...
Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI R
Sud Aviation Caravelle
The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle was the first short/medium-range jet airliner produced by the French Sud Aviation firm starting in 1955 . The Caravelle was one of the more successful European first generation jetliners, selling throughout Europe and even penetrating the United States market, with...
en route from Belém-Val de Cães
Val de Cães International Airport
Belém-Val de Cães/Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport is the main airport serving Belém, Brazil. Val de Cães, the name of the neighborhood where the airport is located, is the most common spelling although Val de Cans is also considered correct...
to Manaus-Ponta Pelada
Ponta Pelada Airport
Ponta Pelada Airport was until 1976 the main airport of Manaus, Brazil. Between 1970 and 1976 public facilities were shared with the military facilities of Manaus Air Force Base. In 1976, with the opening of Eduardo Gomes International Airport, all public operations were transferred to the new...
was hijacked by 4 persons who demanded to be flown to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. The hijack lasted less than a day and there were no casualties.
November 12, 1969: a Cruzeiro do SulServiços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul
Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul, was the second oldest airline of Brazil, tracing its origins to 1927, when it was founded as Syndicato Condor, a subsidiary of Deutsche Luft Hansa. Syndicato Condor retained rights and interests of a former German trade company, Condor Syndikat, which previously...
NAMC YS-11/11A
NAMC YS-11
The NAMC YS-11 is a turboprop airliner built by a Japanese consortium, the Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation. The program was initiated by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in 1954, the aircraft was rolled out in 1962, and production ceased in 1974.-Development and design:In...
en route from Manaus-Ponta Pelada
Ponta Pelada Airport
Ponta Pelada Airport was until 1976 the main airport of Manaus, Brazil. Between 1970 and 1976 public facilities were shared with the military facilities of Manaus Air Force Base. In 1976, with the opening of Eduardo Gomes International Airport, all public operations were transferred to the new...
to Belém-Val de Cães
Val de Cães International Airport
Belém-Val de Cães/Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport is the main airport serving Belém, Brazil. Val de Cães, the name of the neighborhood where the airport is located, is the most common spelling although Val de Cans is also considered correct...
was hijacked by a person who demanded to be flown to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. There were no casualties.
December 11, 1969: a Korean Air Lines YS-11 en route from GangneungGangneung Airbase
Gangneung Airbase is an airbase holding the 18th fighter wing of the Republic of Korea Air Force. It is located in Gangneung, Gangwon-do. The airfield has one runway , and is ILS equipped on runway 23. In the past, this airfield also used to handle civilian air traffic...
to Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
-Gimpo
Gimpo International Airport
Gimpo International Airport , commonly known as Gimpo Airport , is located in the far western end of Seoul and was the main international airport for Seoul and South Korea before it was replaced by Incheon International Airport in 2001...
was hijacked by a North Korean agent and flown to North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
. All four crew members and seven of the 46 other passengers (excluding the agent) were held hostage by North Korea; their fate is still unknown.
1970s
January 1, 1970: a Cruzeiro do SulServiços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul
Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul, was the second oldest airline of Brazil, tracing its origins to 1927, when it was founded as Syndicato Condor, a subsidiary of Deutsche Luft Hansa. Syndicato Condor retained rights and interests of a former German trade company, Condor Syndikat, which previously...
Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI R
Sud Aviation Caravelle
The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle was the first short/medium-range jet airliner produced by the French Sud Aviation firm starting in 1955 . The Caravelle was one of the more successful European first generation jetliners, selling throughout Europe and even penetrating the United States market, with...
en route from Montevideo
Carrasco International Airport
Carrasco/General Cesáreo L. Berisso International Airport , commonly known simply by Aeropuerto Internacional de Carrasco in reference to the neighborhood where it is located, is the main airport serving Montevideo, Uruguay, located in the adjoining municipality of Ciudad de la Costa...
to Rio de Janeiro, with 33 occupants aboard, was hijacked by 6 persons who demanded to be flown to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. The flight was diverted to Lima
Jorge Chávez International Airport
Jorge Chávez International Airport , known as Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chávez in Spanish, is Peru's main international and domestic airport. It is located in Callao, 11 kilometers from the Historic Centre of Lima and 17 km from Miraflores. Callao is the port city now fully...
, Panama City
Tocumen International Airport
Tocumen International Airport is an international airport located from Panama City, Panama. In 2006, it underwent a major expansion and renovation program in order to modernize and improve its facilities...
and arrived in Havana
José Martí International Airport
José Martí International Airport , sometimes known by its former name Rancho-Boyeros Airport, is located southwest of Havana, Cuba, and is a hub for Cubana de Aviación, Aerogaviota and Aero Caribbean, and former Latin American hub for Aeroflot Soviet Airlines...
two days later. There were no casualties.
March 17, 1970: Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320
Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320
Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320, carrying passengers from Newark to Boston was hijacked around 7:30 P.M. by John J. Divivo who was armed with a .38 caliber revolver. Captain Robert Wilbur Jr., 35, a former Air Force pilot who had only been promoted to captain six months prior, was shot in his...
, carrying passengers from Newark
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
was hijacked around 7:30 P.M. by John J. Divivo who was armed with a .38 caliber revolver. Captain Robert Wilbur Jr., 35, a former Air Force pilot who had only been promoted to captain six months prior, was shot in his arm by the suicidal hijacker. With a .38 slug in his arm and bleeding profusely, he flew his aircraft safely to a landing while talking to the tower, telling them his copilot was shot (but not himself) and needed an ambulance. His copilot, First Officer James Hartley, 31, was shot without warning by Divivo and collapsed. Divivo then turned the gun on the captain, causing his arm injury. Despite being fatally wounded Hartley recovered sufficiently to rip the gun from Divivo's hand, and shoot the would-be hijacker three times before lapsing into unconsciousness, and eventually death. Although wounded and slumped between the seats, Divivo arose and began clawing at Captain Wilbur, attempting to force a crash. Wilbur hit Divivo over the head with the gun he had retrieved from the center console. The pilot was able to land the plane safely at Logan International Airport
Logan International Airport
General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport is located in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts . It covers , has six runways, and employs an estimated 16,000 people. It is the 19th busiest airport in the United States.Boston serves as a focus city for JetBlue Airways...
, and the hijacker was arrested immediately. On November 1, 1970, DiVivo hanged himself while awaiting trial at Charles Street Jail
Charles Street Jail
The Charles Street Jail or "Suffolk County Jail" is a historic former jail located at 215 Charles Street, Boston, Massachusetts...
.
March 31, 1970: Japan Airlines Flight 351Japan Airlines Flight 351
Japan Airlines Flight 351 was hijacked by nine members of the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction on March 31, 1970 while flying from Tokyo to Fukuoka, in an incident usually referred to in Japanese as the...
, carrying 131 passengers and 7 crew from Tokyo to Fukuoka
Fukuoka, Fukuoka
is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.Voted number 14 in a 2010 poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by...
, is hijacked by nine members of the Japanese Red Army
Japanese Red Army
The was a Communist terrorist group founded by Fusako Shigenobu early in 1971 in Lebanon. It sometimes called itself Arab-JRA after the Lod airport massacre...
group. 23 passengers were freed at Fukuoka Airport
Fukuoka Airport
, formerly known as Itazuke Air Base, is an international and domestic airport located east of Hakata Station in Fukuoka, Japan. It is officially designated a second class airport. It is operating at full capacity, and cannot be further expanded. Flights stop at 10 p.m...
, mainly children or old aged. 108 passengers and all crew members with Red Army group left Fukuoka, bound for Gimpo Airport, near Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
. Three days after, Red Army group ask to be flown to North Korean capital Pyongyang
Pyongyang
Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...
, before leaving from Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, 103 passenger and crew hostages are freed, and nine Red Army group members surrendered to North Korean authorities.
July 1, 1970: a Cruzeiro do SulServiços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul
Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul, was the second oldest airline of Brazil, tracing its origins to 1927, when it was founded as Syndicato Condor, a subsidiary of Deutsche Luft Hansa. Syndicato Condor retained rights and interests of a former German trade company, Condor Syndikat, which previously...
Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle VI R
Sud Aviation Caravelle
The Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle was the first short/medium-range jet airliner produced by the French Sud Aviation firm starting in 1955 . The Caravelle was one of the more successful European first generation jetliners, selling throughout Europe and even penetrating the United States market, with...
registration PP-PDX en route from Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
with 31 occupants was hijacked by 4 persons who demanded the release of political prisoners that were to be taken to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. The aircraft was stormed and hijackers arrested. There were no casualties and the hijack lasted less than a day.
July 4, 1970: a Cruzeiro do SulServiços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul
Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul, was the second oldest airline of Brazil, tracing its origins to 1927, when it was founded as Syndicato Condor, a subsidiary of Deutsche Luft Hansa. Syndicato Condor retained rights and interests of a former German trade company, Condor Syndikat, which previously...
NAMC YS-11
NAMC YS-11
The NAMC YS-11 is a turboprop airliner built by a Japanese consortium, the Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation. The program was initiated by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in 1954, the aircraft was rolled out in 1962, and production ceased in 1974.-Development and design:In...
en route from Belém-Val de Cães
Val de Cães International Airport
Belém-Val de Cães/Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport is the main airport serving Belém, Brazil. Val de Cães, the name of the neighborhood where the airport is located, is the most common spelling although Val de Cans is also considered correct...
to Macapá
Macapá International Airport
Macapá-Alberto Alcolumbre International Airport is the airport serving Macapá, Brazil. Since April 22, 2009 the airport is named after Alberto Alcolumbre, a local businessman.It is operated by Infraero.-History:The airport was opened in 1970....
was hijacked by 1 person and flown to Cayenne
Cayenne
Cayenne is the capital of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic coast. The city's motto is "Ferit Aurum Industria" which means "Work brings wealth"...
, Georgetown
Georgetown, Guyana
Georgetown, estimated population 239,227 , is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed 'Garden City of the Caribbean.' Georgetown is located at . The city serves...
, Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
, Antigua
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island nation lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands...
and Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
.
September 1970: As part of the Dawson's Field hijackingsDawson's Field hijackings
In the Dawson's Field hijackings five jet aircraft bound for New York City were hijacked by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine...
, PFLP members attempted to hijack four aircraft simultaneously. They succeeded on three and forced the planes to fly to the Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
ian desert, where the hijackers blew up the aircraft after releasing most of the hostages. The final hostages were freed in exchange for seven Palestinian prisoners. The fourth attack on an El Al
El Al
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd , trading as El Al , is the flag carrier of Israel. It operates scheduled domestic and international services and cargo flights to Europe, North America, Africa and the Far East from its main base in Ben Gurion International Airport...
plane by two people including Leila Khalid was foiled by the pilots, passengers and armed guards aboard.
October 15, 1970: Aeroflot Flight 244
Aeroflot Flight 244
Aeroflot Flight 244 was the scene of the first successful aircraft hijacking in the Soviet Union on 15 October 1970 when the Lithuanian nationalist Pranas Brazinskas and his son Algirdas seized an An-24 domestic passenger plane en route from Batumi, Adjar ASSR, Georgian SSR, to Sukhumi and...
was hijacked from Batumi
Batumi
Batumi is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast and capital of Adjara, an autonomous republic in southwest Georgia. Sometimes considered Georgia's second capital, with a population of 121,806 , Batumi serves as an important port and a commercial center. It is situated in a subtropical zone, rich in...
, Adjar ASSR
Adjar ASSR
The Adjar ASSR, Adzhar ASSR or Adjarian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was an autonomous republic of the Soviet Union within the Georgian SSR, established on 16 July 1921...
, Georgian SSR, to Trabzon
Trabzon
Trabzon is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. Trabzon, located on the historical Silk Road, became a melting pot of religions, languages and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran in the southeast and the Caucasus to the northeast...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
by a Lithuania
Lithuanian SSR
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Lithuanian SSR, was one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union...
n national and his son. An air hostess was killed and some other crew were injured in a shootout. The hijackers later received American citizenship.
January 30, 1971: Indian Airlines Fokker F27Fokker F27
The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner designed and built by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker.-Design and development:Design of the Fokker F27 started in the 1950s as a replacement to the successful Douglas DC-3 airliner...
on scheduled Srinagar
Srinagar
Srinagar is the summer seasonal capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is situated in Kashmir Valley and lies on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus. It is one of the largest cities in India not to have a Hindu majority. The city is famous for its gardens, lakes and houseboats...
-Jammu
Jammu
Jammu , also known as Duggar, is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India.Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir...
flight is hijacked to Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
by two self-proclaimed Kashmir Separatists. All passengers were released by February 2 and repatriated to India, but the aircraft was blown-up—leading to an India-Pakistan air-travel ban, and suspension of overflight rights until 1976.
March, 1971: Philippine AirlinesPhilippine Airlines
Philippine Airlines, Inc. operating as Philippine Airlines, is a flag carrier of the Philippines. Headquartered in the Philippine National Bank Financial Center in Pasay City, the airline was founded in 1941 and is the first and oldest commercial airline in Asia operating under its original name...
flight was hijacked in March 1971 by six students from the Mindanao State University, opposed to the Marcos
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
government. The plane landed in Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
(Canton) in southern China, and the Chinese authorities let the students stay in the country. The plane was then allowed to fly back to the Philippines. No one was hurt.
May 1971: an IL-14 with 4 staff members and 16 passengers was hijacked by 6 men at the Oradea
Oradea
Oradea is the capital city of Bihor County, in the Crișana region of north-western Romania. The city has a population of 204,477, according to the 2009 estimates. The wider Oradea metropolitan area has a total population of 245,832.-Geography:...
Airport (Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
), then forced to flew to Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
(Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
), then Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
(Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
). The passengers and the crew were released in Vienna, while the hijackers flew to West Germany.
A Pakistan Air ForcePakistan Air Force
The Pakistan Air Force is the leading air arm of the Pakistan Armed Forces and is primarily tasked with the aerial defence of Pakistan with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Navy. The PAF also has a tertiary role of providing strategic air transport...
T-33
T-33 Shooting Star
The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star is an American-built jet trainer aircraft. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948, piloted by Tony LeVier. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then designated T-33A. It was used by the...
trainer was hijacked on August 20, 1971 during Bangladesh Liberation War
Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....
(before Indo-Pakistani war of 1971
Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military conflict between India and Pakistan. Indian, Bangladeshi and international sources consider the beginning of the war to be Operation Chengiz Khan, Pakistan's December 3, 1971 pre-emptive strike on 11 Indian airbases...
) in Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
when a Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
instructor pilot, Flight Lieutenant
Flight Lieutenant
Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many Commonwealth countries. It ranks above flying officer and immediately below squadron leader. The name of the rank is the complete phrase; it is never shortened to "lieutenant"...
Matiur Rahman
Matiur Rahman (military pilot)
Matiur Rahman or M. Matiur Rahman was a Flight Lieutenant in the Pakistan Air Force when the Liberation War broke out. His date of birth is sometimes given as 29 November 1941....
, knocked out the young Pilot Officer
Pilot Officer
Pilot officer is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks immediately below flying officer...
Rashid Minhas
Rashid Minhas
Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas or Rashid Minhas Shaheed, NH, was a Pilot Officer in the Pakistan Air Force during the 1971 Pakistan-India War. Rashid Minhas, a newly commissioned officer at that time, is the only PAF officer who received the highest valor for his actions...
with the intention of defecting to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
with the plane and national secrets to join Mukti Bahini
Mukti Bahini
Mukti Bahini , also termed as the "Freedom Fighters" or FFs, collectively refers to the armed organizations who fought against the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War. It was dynamically formed by Bengali regulars and civilians after the proclamation of Bangladesh's independence on...
in Bangladesh Liberation War
Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....
. On regaining consciousness in mid-flight, Rashid Minhas
Rashid Minhas
Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas or Rashid Minhas Shaheed, NH, was a Pilot Officer in the Pakistan Air Force during the 1971 Pakistan-India War. Rashid Minhas, a newly commissioned officer at that time, is the only PAF officer who received the highest valor for his actions...
struggled for flight control as well as relayed the news of his hijack to the PAF
Pakistan Air Force
The Pakistan Air Force is the leading air arm of the Pakistan Armed Forces and is primarily tasked with the aerial defence of Pakistan with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Navy. The PAF also has a tertiary role of providing strategic air transport...
base. In the end of the ensuing struggle he succeeded to crash his aircraft into the ground near Thatta
Thatta
Thatta is a historic town of 220,000 inhabitants in the Sindh province of Pakistan, near Lake Keenjhar, the largest freshwater lake in the country. Thatta's major monuments especially its necropolis at Makli are listed among the World Heritage Sites. The Shah Jahan Mosque is also listed...
on seeing no way to prevent the hijack and the defection. He was posthumously awarded Pakistan's highest military award Nishan-e-Haider
Nishan-e-Haider
Nishan-e-Haider or Nishan-e-Hyder is the highest military decoration given by Pakistan . It was established in 1957 after Pakistan became a Republic, however, it was instituted retrospectively from Independence in 1947...
(Sign of the Lion) for his act of bravery. For his attempt to defect from the Pakistan Air Force to join Bangladesh Liberation War
Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....
, Matiur Rahman
Matiur Rahman (military pilot)
Matiur Rahman or M. Matiur Rahman was a Flight Lieutenant in the Pakistan Air Force when the Liberation War broke out. His date of birth is sometimes given as 29 November 1941....
was decorated with the Bir Sreshtho
Bir Sreshtho
The Bir Sreshtho is the highest military award of Bangladesh. It was awarded to seven freedom fighters who showed utmost bravery and died in action for their nation. They are considered martyrs....
award by Bangladesh which is their highest honor given.
November, 1971: Charles Hill, Ralph Lawernce, and Albert Finney were driving a carload of weapons to Louisiana as part of the Republic of New Afrika militant group. They murdered New Mexico State Police officer Robert Rosenbloom during a traffic stop and escaped to Albuquerque where they hijacked a TWA 727 to Cuba.
November 24, 1971: A man who became known as D. B. Cooper
D. B. Cooper
D. B. Cooper is the name popularly used to refer to an unidentified man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in the airspace between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington on November 24, 1971. He extorted $200,000 in ransom and parachuted to an uncertain fate...
hijacked Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305, a Boeing 727-100 aircraft flying from Portland, OR, to Seattle, WA, received US$200,000 in ransom, and parachuted from the plane. The actual name of the hijacker remains unknown. The hijacker revealed what appeared to be a bomb to a flight attendant and demanded the ransom and parachutes. The flight landed in Seattle, and FBI agents provided the ransom money and parachutes. Cooper then released all passengers and one flight attendant. After refueling, the aircraft took off again and flew toward Reno, NV. Cooper opened the aft stairs and jumped from the plane with a parachute during a heavy rainstorm. The aircraft was forced to land with the aft stairs deployed. The FBI believes Cooper most likely did not survive, but the case remains unsolved.
January 12, 1972: Braniff
Braniff International Airways
Braniff International Airways was an American airline that operated from 1928 until 1982, primarily in the midwestern and southwestern U.S., South America, Panama, and in its later years also Asia and Europe...
Flight 38
Braniff Flight 38
Braniff Flight 38, a Boeing 727 airliner, was hijacked by a lone gunman as it departed William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas, bound for Dallas, Texas, Kansas City, Missouri, and Minneapolis, Minnesota....
, a Boeing 727
Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...
, was hijacked as it departed Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
bound for Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
. The lone armed hijacker, Billy Gene Hurst, Jr., allowed all 94 passengers to deplane after landing at Dallas Love Field but continued to hold the 7 crewmembers hostage, demanding to fly to South America and asking for US $2 million, parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
s, and jungle survival gear, amongst other items. After a 6-hour standoff, the entire crew secretly fled while Hurst was distracted examining the contents of a package delivered by Dallas police
Dallas Police Department
The Dallas Police Department, established in 1881, is the principal law enforcement agency serving the city of Dallas, Texas.-Organization:The department is headed by a chief of police who is appointed by the city manager who, in turn, is hired by the Dallas City Council...
. Police officers stormed the craft shortly afterwards and arrested Hurst without serious incident.
January 28, 1972: TWA
Twa
The Twa are any of several hunting peoples of Africa who live interdependently with agricultural Bantu populations, and generally hold a socially subordinate position: They provide the farming population with game in exchange for agricultural products....
Flight 2, Los Angeles to New York, was hijacked by con man and bank robber Garrett Trapnell
Garrett Brock Trapnell
Garrett Brock Trapnell was a con man, bank robber, and aircraft hijacker of the 1960s and early 1970s. Trapnell initiated a string of bank robberies across the United States and Canada that netted him in excess of $1,000,000 over time...
while over Chicago. Trapnell demanded $306,800 in cash (to recoup the loss of a recent court case), the release of Angela Davis
Angela Davis
Angela Davis is an American political activist, scholar, and author. Davis was most politically active during the late 1960s through the 1970s and was associated with the Communist Party USA, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panther Party...
(as well as that of a friend of his who was also imprisoned), and clemency from President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
. The FBI was able to retake the aircraft during a crew switch at Kennedy Airport; Trapnell was shot and wounded, no one else was hurt. Trapnell's hijacking came after a string of domestic incidents and resulted in an overhaul of flight procedures by the Nixon Administration, procedures that remained in place until the September 11, 2001 hijackings. Trapnell and unrelated hijacker Martin J. McNally (see June 23, 1972 below) attempted to escape Marion federal prison on May 24, 1978, after Trapnell's girlfriend Barbara Ann Oswald hijacked a helicopter and ordered it to Marion but that hijacking ended when the pilot grabbed the woman's gun and killed Oswald. On December 21, 1978 Oswald's 17-year-old daughter Robin Oswald hijacked TWA Flight 541
TWA Flight 541
TWA Flight 541 was a domestic passenger flight hijacked in the United States by Robin Oswald in an attempt to free Garrett Brock Trapnell, who was a prisoner at the United States Penitentiary, Marion...
in another attempt to rescue Trapnell. She surrendered after 10 hours of negotiations at the airport in Marion.
June 3, 1972: Western AirlinesWestern Airlines
Western Airlines was a large airline based in California, with operations throughout the Western United States, and hubs at Los Angeles International Airport, Salt Lake City International Airport, and the former Stapleton International Airport in Denver...
Flight 701 from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to Seattle was hijacked by Black Panthers Willie Roger Holder, a black Vietnam veteran, and Catherine Marie Kerkow. The hijackers claimed they had a bomb in an attache case and demanded $500,000. After allowing all 97 passengers to get off in San Francisco, they flew to Algeria where they were granted political asylum. The Algerian government confiscated and returned $488,000 of the ransom money to US officials.
June 23, 1972: In the 9th copycat D.B. Cooper-style hijacking Martin J. McNally under the pseudonym of Robert W. Wilson hijacked St. Louis-Tulsa American Airlines Flight 119 on a Boeing 727 and demands $502,500. The plane flew back and forth between Tulsa and St. Louis while the loot was raised. While at St. Louis Lambert Airport a man after seeing the television news coverage of the case crashed at 80 mph through the airport fence into the plane struts in a Cadillac convertible. The hijacker transferred to a new 727 and jumped out of the plane over Indiana. The full loot bag and gun was discovered by searchers near Peru, Indiana
Peru, Indiana
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 12,994 people, 5,410 households, and 3,397 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,815.5 people per square mile . There were 5,943 housing units at an average density of 1,287.7 per square mile...
. Fingerprints led to McNally. While in Marion Federal Prison McNally and fellow inmate and hijacker Garrett Trapnell
Garrett Brock Trapnell
Garrett Brock Trapnell was a con man, bank robber, and aircraft hijacker of the 1960s and early 1970s. Trapnell initiated a string of bank robberies across the United States and Canada that netted him in excess of $1,000,000 over time...
(see January 28, 1972 above) on May 24, 1978 were involved in an attempted prison escape after Trapnell's girlfriend hijacked a helicopter. The escape attempt ended when the helicopter pilot grabbed the woman's gun and killed her. McNally was paroled from prison January 27, 2010.
July 31, 1972: Delta Air Lines Flight 841Delta Air Lines Flight 841
- Hijacking :Delta Air Lines Flight 841 was an aircraft hijacking that took place beginning on Monday, July 31, 1972, on a flight originally from Detroit to Miami....
was hijacked by five members of the Black Liberation Army
Black Liberation Army
The Black Liberation Army was an underground, black nationalist-Marxist militant organization that operated in the United States from 1970 to 1981...
including the elusive George Wright
George Wright (fugitive)
George Edward Wright is a Portuguese citizen of American originwho, in 1961, graduated from Mary Bethune High School in Halifax, Virginia.Originally arrested and convicted for murder in 1962 and sentenced to up to 30 years in prison,...
. The flight was originally from Detroit to Miami. The hijackers exchanged the passengers for $1 million in Miami and forced the plane to fly to Boston, then Algeria who returned the plane and cash but released the hijackers.
November 10, 1972: Southern Airways Flight 49Southern Airways Flight 49
The hijacking of Southern Airways Flight 49 occurred on November 10, 1972. Melvin Cale, Louis Moore and Henry D. Jackson, Jr. successfully hijacked a Southern Airways Douglas DC-9 that was scheduled to fly from Birmingham, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama. The three were each facing criminal...
, was hijacked by three men and flown to multiple locations in the United States, and one Canadian city. At one point, the hijackers threatened to fly the plane into the nuclear reactor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a multiprogram science and technology national laboratory managed for the United States Department of Energy by UT-Battelle. ORNL is the DOE's largest science and energy laboratory. ORNL is located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, near Knoxville...
, if their demands for $10 million in cash were not met. While stopped for refueling at McCoy Air Force Base
McCoy Air Force Base
With McCoy's closure as an active air force installation in 1975, the site was redeveloped and is known today as Orlando International Airport, which carries the airport code MCO .- History :...
, Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, the FBI shot out the plane's tires, prompting the hijackers to force pilot William Haas to take off. The hijacking came to an end when the plane landed on a partially foam-covered runway in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba, and the hijackers were captured after attempting to escape.
April 24, 1973: SAS DC 9 - Gunder Viking - with registration number LN-RLO on route from Torslanda, Gothenburg, Sweden, to Stockholm, Sweden, was hijacked five minutes after take off by 3 armed Croatian terrorists connected to Ustasja. The plane was ordered to land at Bulltofta airport, Malmö, Sweden. 86 passengers and 4 crew members were held hostage until the next morning when the hostages were released in exchange for 500 000 Swedish Kronor and seven Croatian terrorists imprisoned in Sweden. The last passenger could leave the plane unharmed after 16 hours. The plane and crew was then ordered to fly to Madrid, Spain, where the hijackers later were to be put on trial.April 24, 1973: The hijacking attempt of Aeroflot
Aeroflot
OJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines , commonly known as Aeroflot , is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation, based on passengers carried per year...
Tu-104 flying from Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. When flight attendant tried to disarm the hijacker, the bomb detonated, killing both and causing the decompression. The crew made an emergency landing in Leningrad, the plane was written off.
May 18, 1973: Another hijacking attempt of Aeroflot
Aeroflot
OJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines , commonly known as Aeroflot , is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation, based on passengers carried per year...
Tu-104 flying from Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
to Chita. The terrorist demanded the plane be diverted to China. The bomb detonated and the plane crashed near Lake Baikal, killing all 82 people on board.
October 31, 1973: The Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape, in which three members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA) were allowed to escape from Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison , founded as Mountjoy Gaol, nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security prison located in Phibsboro in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. It has the largest prison population in Ireland.The current prison governor is Mr...
in Dublin, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
aboard a hijacked
Aircraft hijacking
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
light helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
; prison guards initially presumed the vehicle was carrying government officials.
November 25, 1973: A KLM Boeing 747
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
, "Mississippi", was hijacked by three young Arabs over Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i airspace on a scheduled Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
-Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
flight with 247 passengers on board. After the hijackers threatened to blow up the plane when no country would grant landing permission, the plane landed in Malta. Most of the passengers and the eight stewardesses were released after negotiations with the Maltese PM
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Dom Mintoff
Dom Mintoff
Dom Mintoff is a Maltese politician, journalist and architect, who served as leader of the Labour Party from 1949 to 1984, Prime Minister of Malta from 1955 to 1958 and again, post-Independence, from 1971 to...
who argued with the hijackers that the plane could not possibly take off with both the passengers and the 27,000 gallons of fuel they had demanded given the (then) short runway. With 11 passengers on board the jumbo jet left Malta to Dubai where the incident ended without fatalities.
June 27 - July 4, 1976: The hijack of Air FranceAir France
Air France , stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, , and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance...
Flight 139 on June 27, 1976, by members of the militant organizations Revolutionary Cells
Revolutionary Cells (RZ)
Revolutionary Cells was a German left-wing political militancy of self-described "urban guerillas" who were active from 1973 to 1993. According to the office of the German Federal Prosecutor, the RZ claimed responsibility for 186 attacks, of which 40 were committed in West Berlin...
and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - External Operations
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - External Operations
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - External Operations or Special Operations or Special Operations Group were organizational names used by Palestinian radical Wadie Haddad when engaging in international attacks, that were regarded as terrorism, and were not sanctioned by the...
was brought to an end on July 4 at Entebbe Airport
Entebbe International Airport
Entebbe International Airport is the principal international airport of Uganda.-Location:It is located near the town of Entebbe, on the shores of Lake Victoria, and about from the capital, Kampala...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
by Operation Entebbe
Operation Entebbe
Operation Entebbe was a counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by the Special Forces of the Israel Defense Forces at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on 4 July 1976. A week earlier, on 27 June, an Air France plane with 248 passengers was hijacked by Palestinian and German terrorists and...
: Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i commandos assaulted the building holding the hijackers and hostages, killing all Palestinian hijackers and rescuing 105 persons, almost all Israeli hostages. However three passengers and one commando were killed.
September 10, 1976: TWA Flight 355TWA Flight 355
TWA Flight 355 was a domestic Trans World Airlines flight which was hijacked by five terrorists, all members of the Croatian National Resistance which was a terrorist Croatian Ustaše emigrant organization, on September 10, 1976....
was hijacked by Croatian separatists. Some passengers were allowed to deplane in Canada before the hijackers continued on to Iceland, then France, where they released the remaining passengers and surrendered to authorities. One New York police officer was killed while working on a bomb which the hijackers had planted at Grand Central Station.
1977: Lufthansa Flight 181Lufthansa Flight 181
Lufthansa Flight 181 was a Lufthansa Boeing 737-230 Adv aircraft named Landshut that was hijacked on October 13, 1977 by four members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine...
(also known as the Landshut) was hijacked by Palestinian highjackers on a flight from Palma de Mallorca
Palma de Mallorca
Palma is the major city and port on the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. The names Ciutat de Mallorca and Ciutat were used before the War of the Spanish Succession and are still used by people in Majorca. However, the official name...
to Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
. The ordeal ended in Mogadishu
Mogadishu
Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....
, Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
when GSG 9
GSG 9
The GSG 9 der Bundespolizei , is the elite counter-terrorism and special operations unit of the German Federal Police.-History and name:...
and S.A.S commandos stormed the plane. Three hijackers were killed and 86 hostages were freed. The pilot was killed. The hand of West Germany's Red Army Faction
Red Army Faction
The radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...
was suspected.
December 4, 1977: Suspected lone member of Japanese Red ArmyJapanese Red Army
The was a Communist terrorist group founded by Fusako Shigenobu early in 1971 in Lebanon. It sometimes called itself Arab-JRA after the Lod airport massacre...
hijacked Malaysia Airlines Flight 653
Malaysia Airlines Flight 653
Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 , a Boeing 737-2H6 aircraft registered as , crashed at Tanjung Kupang, Johor, in Malaysia on the evening of 4 December 1977. It was the deadliest and first fatal accident for Malaysia Airlines, with all 93 passengers and 7 crew killed instantly. The flight was...
. The Boeing 737 then crashed, killing all on board after he shot both pilots and himself. 100 people died.
March 13, 1978: United Flight 696 was hijacked by a lone American immediately after takeoff out of KSFO. The aircraft landed in Oakland and the release of cabin crew and passengers was negotiated by the flight crew. The fueling was cut short by the hijacker and Flt 696 took off only partially refueled. Flight 696 landed in Denver to take on more fuel for Cuba. While waiting for the fuel, the cockpit crew jumped from the cockpit to escape the hijacker. The hijacker surrendered to the FBI within minutes of the crews escape. No fatalities but the three cockpit crew-members suffered fractures and torn cartilage from the unassisted 2 story leap.
August 30, 1978: LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 hijacking
LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 hijacking was the hijacking of a LOT Polish Airlines that occurred on August 30, 1978. The hijackers from East Germany were seeking political asylum in West Germany...
was hijacked by two East Germans in order to escape to West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
. There were no casualties, the hijackers surrendered and were tried by never-before-convened United States Court for Berlin.
September 30, 1978: Finnair Flight 405
Finnair Flight 405
Finnair Flight 405 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight between Oulu and Helsinki, Finland, that was hijacked on September 30, 1978. The Finnair Sud Aviation Caravelle with 44 passengers and 4 crew aboard was hijacked by an unemployed home building contractor...
was hijacked by Aarno Lamminparras; the flight was en route from Oulu
Oulu
Oulu is a city and municipality of inhabitants in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is one of the northernmost larger cities in the world....
to Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
. He requested a ransom of 675,000 markka, which he received, and as a result he released all 44 passengers on board. Then he ordered the plane to fly him to Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in the Netherlands and then back to Oulu. He returned home and was arrested there the next day. He served seven years and one month in prison and now lives in Sweden. One of the passengers on board the hijacked plane was singer Monica Aspelund
Monica Aspelund
-Life/ career:Born into a family of Swedish speaking Finlanders, Aspelund danced and sang in talent shows from an early age making her recording debut at age fourteen with "Katso, kenguru loikkaa" a children's song recorded in the autumn of 1960...
.
December 20, 1978: Two Hindus, Devendra Nath Pandey and Bhola Nath Pandey hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-410. They demanded the immediate release of Indian National Congress party leader Indira Gandhi who was imprisoned at that time on the charges of fraud and misconduct. Later, they were awarded with party tickets for this act by the Indira Gandhi government in 1980 such that Devendra Nath Pandey rose to become a minister in the government of most populous state of India, Uttar Pradesh. This case was also mentioned by Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale to justify his claim regarding the hypocrisy of the Indian government.
December 21, 1978: 17-year-old Robin Oswald hijacked TWA Flight 541
TWA Flight 541
TWA Flight 541 was a domestic passenger flight hijacked in the United States by Robin Oswald in an attempt to free Garrett Brock Trapnell, who was a prisoner at the United States Penitentiary, Marion...
flying from Louisville to Kansas City claiming she had three sticks of dynamite. The plane landed at Williamson County Regional Airport
Williamson County Regional Airport
Williamson County Regional Airport is a public airport located four miles west of the central business district of Marion, a city in Williamson County, Illinois, USA. The airport covers and has two runways. It is mostly used for general aviation, although it has scheduled service to Lambert-St...
where she hoped to seek the release of Garrett Trapnell
Garrett Brock Trapnell
Garrett Brock Trapnell was a con man, bank robber, and aircraft hijacker of the 1960s and early 1970s. Trapnell initiated a string of bank robberies across the United States and Canada that netted him in excess of $1,000,000 over time...
who was serving time at Marion Federal Penitentiary. Trapnell was serving time for a January 28, 1972 hijacking (see January 28, 1972 above). On May 24, 1978 her mother Barbara Ann Oswald was killed after hijacking a helicopter in an attempt to rescue Trapnell. Robin eventually surrendered at the Williamson Airport. The dynamite was revealed to be flares.
1980s
1981: A Pakistan International AirlinesPakistan International Airlines
Pakistan International Airlines Corporation commonly known as PIA, is the flag carrier airline of Pakistan. The airline has its head office on the grounds of Jinnah International Airport in Karachi. and operates scheduled services to 24 domestic destinations and 38 international destinations in 27...
jet is hijacked and taken to Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
, where one passenger is killed before the plane flies on to Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
; the hostages are finally released after 13 days when the Pakistani Government agrees to free fifty political prisoners.
1981: The Hijacking of Flight Garuda Indonesia
Garuda Indonesia
PT Garuda Indonesia Tbk , publicly known as Garuda Indonesia, is the flag carrier of Indonesia. It is named after the mystical giant bird Garuda of Hinduism and Buddhist mythology. It is headquartered at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, near Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia...
GA 206 on March 28, 1981. This was the first serious Indonesian airline hijacking, since the first case was a desperate Marine hijacker who was killed by the pilot himself. The hijackers, a group called Commando Jihad, hijacked the DC 9 "Woyla", onroute from Palembang
Palembang
Palembang is the capital city of the South Sumatra province in Indonesia. Palembang is one of the oldest cities in Indonesia, and has a history of being a capital of a maritime empire. Located on the Musi River banks on the east coast of southern Sumatra island, it has an area of 400.61 square...
to Medan
Medan
- Demography :The city is Indonesia's fourth most populous after Jakarta, Surabaya, and Bandung, and Indonesia's largest city outside of Java island. Much of the population lies outside its city limits, especially in Deli Serdang....
, and ordered the pilot to fly the plane to Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, Sri Lanka. But since the plane didn't have enough fuel, it refueled in Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
, Malaysia and then to Don Muang, Thailand. The hijackers demanded the release of Commando Jihad members imprisoned in Indonesia, and US $ 1.5 million, as well as a plane to take those prisoners to an unspecified destination. The Kopassus
Kopassus
Kopassus is an Indonesian Army special forces group that conducts special operations missions for the Indonesian government, such as direct action, unconventional warfare, sabotage, counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, and intelligence gathering.Kopassus was founded on April 16, 1952...
commandos who took part in this mission trained for only three days with totally unfamiliar weapons, brilliantly executed this fast-paced operation. One of the Kopassus commandos was shot by the hijacker leader, who then shot himself. All the other hijackers were killed. All the hostages were saved.
} 1981: Aer Lingus Flight 164
Aer Lingus Flight 164
Aer Lingus flight EI 164 was a scheduled Boeing 737 passenger flight, from Dublin Airport in the Republic of Ireland to London Heathrow Airport, which was hijacked on 2 May 1981....
from Dublin to London was hijacked and diverted to Le Touquet in France by a man demanding that the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
release the third secret of Fatima
Three Secrets of Fatima
The Three Secrets of Fátima consist of a series of visions and prophecies given by an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to three young Portuguese shepherds, Lúcia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto, starting on 13 May 1917. The three children claimed to have been visited by a...
. While authorities negotiated with the hijacker by radio in the cockpit, French special forces entered the rear of the aircraft and overpowered him.
February 25, 1982: Kuwait Airways
Kuwait Airways
Kuwait Airways is the national airline of Kuwait, with its head office on the grounds of Kuwait International Airport, Al Farwaniyah Governorate. It operates scheduled international services throughout the Middle East, to the Indian subcontinent, Europe, Southeast Asia and North America, from its...
Flight KU561 from Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
to Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
to Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
(return flight to Libya) was hijacked on the ground in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
with 150 aboard by Hamza akl Hamieh, demanding news and release of Imam Musa al Sadr, founder of the Islamic terrorist group AMAL
Amal
Amal may refer to:* Åmål, a small town in Sweden* Amal Movement, a Lebanese political party and militia organisation* Amal McCaskill , American basketball player* Amal Hijazi Amal may refer to:* Åmål, a small town in Sweden* Amal Movement, a Lebanese political party and militia organisation* Amal...
, who had disappeared in Libya in 1978. The terrorists surrendered when a Shiite leader promised that Islamic leaders from Lebanon, Syria, Algeria, and Iran would form delegations to press their case at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
. Viewing them as heroes, Lebanese security officials released the hijackers, and when Western aviation officials asked the government where they had gone, a Lebanese official said "They have gone home - they are probably sipping hot coffee with their kin." After they left the plane and disappeared into the night, Captain Les Bradley flew the damaged plane back to Kuwait, telling them that they warned Kuwait Airways to drop this route. There were no casualties.
July 1, 1982: A Sri LankaSri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
n, identified as Sepala Ekanayake
Sepala Ekanayake
Sepala Ekanayake is a Sri Lankan hijacker who gained international notoriety after hijacking an Alitalia Boeing 747 with 340 passengers on June 30, 1982.- Early life :...
, who was 33 years old, hijacked an Alitalia
Alitalia
Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A. , in its later stages known as Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A. in Extraordinary Administration, was the former Italian flag carrier...
jumbo jet from Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, in order to be united with his wife and child and to return to Sri Lanka.
August 22, 1982: A lone Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
militant, armed with a pistol and a hand grenade, hijacked an Indian Airlines on a scheduled flight from Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
to New Delhi carrying 69 persons. Indian security forces killed the hijacker and rescued all passengers. Peter Lamont
Peter Lamont
Peter Lamont is a noted set decorator, script editor, art director, and production designer most famous for working on eighteen James Bond films. The only four Bond films that he did not work on are Dr...
, production designer working on the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film Octopussy
Octopussy
Octopussy is the thirteenth entry in the James Bond series, and the sixth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film's title is taken from a short story in Ian Fleming's 1966 short story collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights...
, was a passenger.
- On February 16, 1983 an IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian man, Hussein Shey Kholya, hijacked a Rio AirwaysRio AirwaysRio Airways was a regional passenger airline headquartered in Killeen, Texas, United States. This airline began operations in or before 1970, and went out of business in 1987. Rio Airways operated briefly in a code-share arrangement with Delta Air Lines whereby Rio flights were booked and sold...
Dash 7 flight Killeen, TX ILE- Dallas, TX DFW. The plane landed in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico
1983: Tbilisi hijacking incident
Tbilisi hijacking incident
Aeroflot Flight 6833, en route from Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, to Leningrad, Russian SFSR, with an intermediate stop in Batumi, was the scene of an attempted aircraft hijacking by seven young Georgians on 18-19 November 1983. The crisis ended with a storming of the Tu-134A airliner by Soviet special...
.
February 3, 1984: a Cruzeiro do SulServiços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul
Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul, was the second oldest airline of Brazil, tracing its origins to 1927, when it was founded as Syndicato Condor, a subsidiary of Deutsche Luft Hansa. Syndicato Condor retained rights and interests of a former German trade company, Condor Syndikat, which previously...
Airbus A300B4-203
Airbus A300
The Airbus A300 is a short- to medium-range widebody jet airliner. Launched in 1972 as the world's first twin-engined widebody, it was the first product of Airbus Industrie, a consortium of European aerospace companies, wholly owned today by EADS...
flight 302 en route from São Luís
Marechal Cunha Machado International Airport
Marechal Cunha Machado International Airport , formerly called Tirirical Airport, is the airport serving São Luís, Brazil. Since October 17, 1985 the airport is named after Marechal Cunha Machado.It is operated by Infraero.-History:...
to Belém-Val de Cães
Val de Cães International Airport
Belém-Val de Cães/Júlio Cezar Ribeiro International Airport is the main airport serving Belém, Brazil. Val de Cães, the name of the neighborhood where the airport is located, is the most common spelling although Val de Cans is also considered correct...
with 176 passengers and crew aboard was hijacked by 3 persons who demanded to be taken to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. The flight reached Camagüey
Camagüey
Camagüey is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third largest city. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province.After almost continuous attacks from pirates the original city was moved inland in 1528.The new city was built with a confusing lay-out of winding alleys that made...
in less than a day. There were no victims.
August 1, 1984, a Air FranceAir France
Air France , stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, , and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance...
Boeing 737-200 enroute from Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
with 82 passengers and crew aboard was hijacked by 3 pirates who demanded to be taken to Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
. They were Arab protesters against military cooperation between France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
on the Iran-Iraq war
Iran-Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran, lasting from September 1980 to August 1988, making it the longest conventional war of the twentieth century...
context. One steward escaped to the hijacker in Larnaka. The hijacking duration was 48 hours. Terrorist destroy the aircraft by explosives in front of the TV cameras. They were no victims. Strangely, the terrorist were taken in big black limousine and disapperaed in Iran.
August 24, 1984: Seven young Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
hijackers demanded an Indian Airlines jetliner flying from Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
to Srinagar
Srinagar
Srinagar is the summer seasonal capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is situated in Kashmir Valley and lies on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus. It is one of the largest cities in India not to have a Hindu majority. The city is famous for its gardens, lakes and houseboats...
be flown to the United Arab Emirates. The plane was taken to UAE where the defense minister of UAE negotiated the release of the passengers. It was related to the Sikh secessionist struggle in the Indian state of Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
.
December 3, 1984: Kuwait Airways Flight 221 LebaneseLebanese people
The Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
Shi'a hijackers divert a Kuwait Airways
Kuwait Airways
Kuwait Airways is the national airline of Kuwait, with its head office on the grounds of Kuwait International Airport, Al Farwaniyah Governorate. It operates scheduled international services throughout the Middle East, to the Indian subcontinent, Europe, Southeast Asia and North America, from its...
flight to Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
. Two American USAID officials are shot dead and dumped on the tarmac. The plane is taken by Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian security forces who were dressed as custodial staff.
1985: Lebanese Shi'a AmalAmal Movement
Amal Movement is short for the Lebanese Resistance Detachments the acronym for which, in Arabic, is "amal", meaning "hope."Amal was founded in 1975 as the militia wing of the Movement of the Disinherited, a Shi'a political movement founded by Musa...
hijackers divert TWA Flight 847
TWA Flight 847
TWA Flight 847 was an international Trans World Airlines flight which was hijacked by Lebanese Shia extremists, later identified as members of Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, on Friday morning, June 14, 1985, after originally taking off from Cairo. The flight was en route from Athens to Rome and then...
from Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
to Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
with 153 people on board. The stand-off ends after Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
frees 31 Lebanese prisoners. Among the passengers was famous Greek singer Demis Roussos
Demis Roussos
Artemios Ventouris Roussos is a Greek singer and performer, best known for being the main musical partner of movie soundtrack composer Vangelis and a string of international hit records as a solo performer in the 1960s and 1970s...
. US Navy diver Robert Stethem
Robert Stethem
Robert Dean Stethem was a United States Navy Seabee diver who was killed by Hezbollah militants during the hijacking of the commercial airliner he was aboard: TWA Flight 847...
is tortured and murdered.
1985: Three PalestinianPalestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
members of the Abu Nidal Organization hijacked on November 23, its Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
to Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
route, EgyptAir Flight 648
EgyptAir Flight 648
EgyptAir Flight 648 was a Boeing 737-200 airliner, registered SU-AYH, hijacked on November 23, 1985 by the terrorist organization Abu Nidal. The subsequent raid on the aircraft by Egyptian troops resulted in dozens of deaths, making the hijacking of Flight 648 one of the deadliest such incidents in...
and fly it to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. All together, 60 people died, most of them when Egyptian commandos stormed the aircraft.
1986: 22 people are killed when PakistanPakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i security forces storm Pan Am Flight 73
Pan Am Flight 73
Pan Am Flight 73, a Pan American World Airways Boeing 747-121, was hijacked on September 5, 1986, while on the ground at Karachi, Pakistan, by four armed men of the Abu Nidal Organization...
at Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, carrying 400 passengers and crew after a 16-hour siege.
December 25, 1986: 63 people are killed when Iraqi Airways Flight 163Iraqi Airways Flight 163
Iraqi Airways Flight 163 was a Boeing 737-270C, registered YI-AGJ, that was hijacked in 1986. On 25 December 1986, en route from Baghdad's Baghdad International Airport to Amman, Jordan, Flight 163 was hijacked by four men...
crashes near Arar
Arar
Mustafa Wahbi Al-Tal, better known as Arar , was a Jordanian poet, lawyer, teacher, judge, political agitator and philosopher....
, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
due to an explosion in the cockpit. The plane was hijacked by 3 hijackers.
March 8, 1988: Ovechkin family (a mother and her 10 children) attempted to hijack a Tu 154 flight from Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
to Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
while trying to escape from the USSR. The plane landed on a military airfield near Vyborg
Vyborg
Vyborg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, to the northwest of St. Petersburg and south from Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland...
and was then stormed. A stewardess and three passengers were killed. The mother was killed by one of her sons by her own request, then four of them committed suicide.
September 29, 1988: a man hijacked a VASP
VASP
Viação Aérea São Paulo S/A, or VASP, was an airline with its head office in the VASP Building on the grounds of Congonhas-São Paulo Airport in São Paulo, Brazil...
Boeing 737-300
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
registration PP-SNT operating flight 375 en route from Belo Horizonte-Pampulha to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
. He wanted to force a crash on the Palácio do Planalto
Palácio do Planalto
The Palácio do Planalto is the official workplace of the President of Brazil. It is located at the Praça dos Três Poderes in Brasília, Brazil. As the seat of government, the term Planalto is often used as a metonym for the executive branch of the government.The main working office of the President...
, the official presidential workplace in Brasília
Brasília
Brasília is the capital city of Brazil. The name is commonly spelled Brasilia in English. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country, along a plateau known as Planalto Central. It has a population of about 2,557,000 as of the 2008 IBGE estimate, making it the...
. The pilot convinced the hijacker to divert to Goiânia
Santa Genoveva Airport
Santa Genoveva/Goiânia Airport is the airport serving Goiânia, Brazil.It is operated by Infraero.-History:The airport was inaugurated in 1955 although operations started a few years earlier...
where an emergency landing was made. The hijack ended with 1 victim.
1988: Two KuwaitKuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
is are killed in 1988 when Lebanese
Lebanese people
The Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
gunmen hijack a Kuwait Airways Flight 422 (aljabriya) from Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and force it to fly to Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
with more than 110 people on board; the hijack ends after 16 days when the hijackers free the remaining hostages and are allowed to leave Algiers.
March 29, 1989: Two teenagers from CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
armed with grenades and shotguns hijack Malév Hungarian Airlines
Malév Hungarian Airlines
Malév Hungarian Airlines is the flag carrier and principal airline of Hungary. It has its head office in the Lurdy House in Budapest, with its main operations at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport. From there, the airline flies to 50 cities in 34 countries worldwide using a fleet of 22...
Flight 640 at Prague Ruzyně Airport, and fly the Tupolev Tu-154B with 15 hostages to Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport may refer to:Airports of Frankfurt, Germany:*Frankfurt Airport , the largest airport in Germany*Frankfurt Egelsbach Airport, a general aviation airport*Frankfurt-Hahn Airport , a converted U.S...
before surrendering.
1990s
1990: Hijackers seized a plane from the People's Republic of China which later crashed as it tried to land in GuangzhouGuangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
, killing 128 people.
March 26, 1991: Singapore Airlines Flight 117
Singapore Airlines Flight 117
On March 26, 1991, Singapore Airlines Flight 117 was hijacked in flight by four male passengers who claimed to be Pakistanis. The aircraft landed at Singapore...
hijacked by 4 individuals claiming to be members of the Pakistan Peoples Party
Pakistan Peoples Party
The Pakistan Peoples Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Pakistan affiliated with Socialist International. Pakistan People's Party is the largest political party of Pakistan...
. Elite Singapore Special Operations Force
Singapore Special Operations Force
The Special Operations Force is a special forces unit in the Commando Formation of the Singapore Army and a component of the joint Special Operations Task Force. It specialises in operations such as direct action, counter-terrorism, hostage rescue and special reconnaissance, and is one of the few...
members stormed the plane on 27 March, killing all four hijackers and freeing all 118 passengers and 9 crew in an operation lasting just 30 seconds. None of the passengers and crew were hurt.
February 11, 1993: Lufthansa Flight 592
Lufthansa Flight 592
Lufthansa Flight 592 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Frankfurt, Germany to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that was hijacked on February 11, 1993. The Lufthansa-operated Airbus A310-300 was hijacked by Nebiu Demeke, an Ethopian man who forced the pilot to fly to New York City's John F....
scheduled service from Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
to Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
and Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
, was hijacked at gunpoint by Nebiu Demeke, an Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
n man. The A310 initially flew to Hannover for fuel before flying to New York's JFK
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
where the hijacker surrendered after brief negotiations. No passengers or crew were injured or killed.
1993:Two separate hijackings of Indian Airlines aircraft to Amritsar
Amritsar
Amritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
, Punjab, India in the month of April. In the first case the hijacker was talked into surrendering; in the second, the Commandos stormed in and killed the sole hijacker. The Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Karan Bir Singh Sidhu was conferred the Convoy Safe Skies Award.
1993: Russian Aeroflot passenger jet flying from Perm to Moscow diverted to Gardermoen airport by two Iranian brothers. Hijackers surrendered and hostages went free. The hijackers were later given asylum in Norway for humanitarian reasons.1994: FedEx Flight 705
FedEx Flight 705
On April 7, 1994, FedEx Flight 705, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 cargo jet ferrying electronics across the United States from Memphis, Tennessee to San Jose, California, experienced an attempted hijacking for the purpose of a suicide attack....
hijacked by disgruntled employee Auburn Calloway as it left Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, with the intention of using it as a cruise missile
Cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and is propelled, usually by a jet engine, towards a land-based or sea-based target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy...
against FedEx HQ. He was subdued by the flight crew before an emergency landing back at Memphis.
1994: Air France Flight 8969Air France Flight 8969
Air France Flight 8969 was an Air France flight that was hijacked on 24 December 1994 by the Armed Islamic Group at Algiers, where they killed three passengers, with the intention to crash it on the Eiffel tower in Paris. When the aircraft reached Marseille, the GIGN, an intervention group of the...
was hijacked from Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
by four GIA
Armed Islamic Group
The Armed Islamic Group is an Islamist organisation that wants to overthrow the Algerian government and replace it with an Islamic state...
terrorists planning to crash into the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
in central Paris. After the murder of 3 passengers, GIGN commandos stormed the plane in Marseilles, killing all hijackers and freeing all passengers.
1995: Russian cargo jet flying from TiranaTirana
Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...
to Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
was forced to land in Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
by Taliban forces. Jet's crew had been held in a captivity until escape in 1996.
1995: Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian defector and flight attendant Rida Garari
Rida Garari
The Kish Air hijacking was the hijacking of an Iranian plane by a flight attendant Reza Jabari on September 19, 1995.Flying from Tehran to the Iranian resort Kish Island, Kish Air Flight 707 was hijacked by Reza Jabari, a flight attendant. The jet had 174 passengers on board. The hijacker tried to...
hijacked Kish Air
Kish Air
Kish Air is an airline based in Tehran, Iran. It operates international, domestic and charter services as a scheduled carrier. Its main base is Mehrabad Airport, Tehran.-History:...
flight 707, which landed in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. No casualties.
1996: Hemus AirHemus Air
Hemus Air was an airline based in Sofia, Bulgaria. It operated scheduled domestic and international services from Sofia and Varna, as well as charter, cargo and air ambulance services. Its main base was Sofia Airport, with a hub at Varna Airport...
Tu-154 aircraft was hijacked by the Palestinian Nadir Abdallah, flying from Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
to Varna
Varna
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
. The hijacker demanded that the aircraft be refuelled and given passage to Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Norway after landing at Varna Airport
Varna Airport
-Seasonal Charter flights:-Passenger statistic:-See also:* List of airports in Bulgaria* List of airlines of Bulgaria* List of the busiest airports in Europe by passenger traffic-External links:* *...
. All of the 150 passengers were freed at Varna, afterwards the crew continued the flight to Oslo, where the hijacker surrendered and asked for political assylum.
1996: Ethiopian Airlines
Ethiopian Airlines
Ethiopian Airlines , formerly Ethiopian Air Lines, often referred to as simply Ethiopian, is an airline headquartered on the grounds of Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It serves as the country's flag carrier, and is wholly owned by the Government of Ethiopia...
Flight 961
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961, a Boeing 767-260ER, was hijacked on , en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on a Bombay–Addis Ababa–Nairobi–Brazzaville–Lagos–Abidjan service, by three Ethiopians seeking political asylum in Australia. The plane crash-landed in the Indian Ocean near Comoros due to fuel...
crashed into the Indian Ocean near a beach in the Comoros Islands after hijackers refused to allow the pilot to land and refuel the plane. 125 passengers died and the remaining 50 passengers survived with minor injuries. This was the third incident in which there were survivors of a passenger jet that had been intentionally ditched into a body of water.
1997: Two men who hijacked Air Malta Flight 830 en route from Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
to Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
on June 9, 1997 surrendered to police at Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
airport early on the same day and freed without incident about 80 crew members and passengers on board.
1999: All Nippon Airways Flight 61
All Nippon Airways Flight 61
On July 23, 1999, an All Nippon Airways Boeing 747-481D with 503 passengers, including 14 children and 14 crew members on board, took off from Tokyo International Airport in Ota, Tokyo, Japan and was en route to New Chitose Airport in Chitose, Japan, near Sapporo when it was hijacked by Yuji...
is hijacked by a lone man. He kills the pilot before he is subdued.
1999-2000: PakistanPakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
-based terrorists hijack Indian Airlines Flight 814
Indian Airlines Flight 814
Indian Airlines Flight 814 commonly known as IC 814 was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 en route from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India on Friday, December 24, 1999, when it was hijacked...
en route from Kathmandu and divert it to Amritsar
Amritsar
Amritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...
, Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
and finally Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
. After a week-long stand-off India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
agrees to release three jailed Pakistani terrorists in exchange for the hostages. 1 hostage was stabbed to death and his body thrown on the tarmac as a "warning attack".
2000s
2000: Ariana Afghan AirlinesAriana Afghan Airlines
Ariana Afghan Airlines Co. Ltd. is the oldest and the national airline of Afghanistan, and is currently the largest Afghan airline, headquartered in Kabul...
Boeing 727
Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...
is hijacked on an internal flight within Taliban-controlled Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, and ended up at London Stansted Airport
London Stansted Airport
-Cargo:-Statistics:-Infrastructure:-Terminal and satellite buildings:Stansted is the newest passenger airport of all the main London airports. The terminal is an oblong glass building, and is separated in to three areas: Check-in concourse, arrivals and departures...
, where most of the passengers claimed political asylum.
2000: Philippine Airlines Flight 812
Philippine Airlines Flight 812
Philippine Airlines Flight 812 was a scheduled passenger flight from Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City to Ninoy Aquino International Airport near Manila. On May 25, 2000, an Airbus A330-301 operating on the route was hijacked by a man later identified as Reginald Chua, just...
was hijacked en route from Davao City
Davao City
The City of Davao is the largest city in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. Its international airport and seaports are among the busiest cargo hubs in the Philippines....
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
to Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
. The hijacker parachuted from the aircraft while still airborne; his body was later found.
2000, August 18: a VASP
VASP
Viação Aérea São Paulo S/A, or VASP, was an airline with its head office in the VASP Building on the grounds of Congonhas-São Paulo Airport in São Paulo, Brazil...
Boeing 737-2A1
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
registration PP-SMG en route from Foz do Iguaçu
Foz do Iguaçu International Airport
Foz do Iguaçu/Cataratas International Airport , is the airport serving Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil. It is named after the Iguazu Falls .It is operated by Infraero.-Airlines and destinations:-Accidents and incidents:...
to Curitiba-Afonso Pena
Afonso Pena International Airport
Afonso Pena International Airport is the main airport serving Curitiba, Brazil, located in the adjoining municipality of São José dos Pinhais. It is named after Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena , the 6th President of Brazil....
was hijacked by 5 persons with the purpose of robbing BRL 5 million (approximately USD 2.75 Million) that the aircraft was transporting. The pilot was forced to land at Porecatu
Porecatu Airport
-Accidents and incidents:*18 August 2000: VASP, a Boeing 737-2A1 registration PP-SMG en route from Foz do Iguaçu to Curitiba-Afonso Pena was hijacked by 5 persons with the purpose of robbing BRL 5 million that the aircraft was transporting. The pilot was forced to land at Porecatu where the...
where the hijackers fled with the money. There were no victims.
2000, October 14: Saudi Arabian AirlinesSaudi Arabian Airlines
Saudi Arabian Airlines is the flag carrier airline of Saudi Arabia, based in Jeddah. It operates domestic and international scheduled flights to over 90 destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America...
Flight 115, flying from Jeddah
Jeddah
Jeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...
to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
was hijacked en route by two men who claimed they were armed with explosives. The hijackers commandeered the Boeing 777
Boeing 777
The Boeing 777 is a long-range, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet and is commonly referred to as the "Triple Seven". The aircraft has seating for over 300 passengers and has a range from , depending on model...
-200 to Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, where all 90 passengers and 15 crew members were safely released. The two hijackers, identified as Lieutenant Faisal Naji Hamoud Al-Bilawi and First Lieutenant Ayesh Ali Hussein Al-Fareedi, both Saudi citizens, were arrested and later extradited to Saudi Arabia in 2003.
2000, 11 November: an Vnukovo AirlinesVnukovo Airlines
Vnukovo Airlines is a defunct Russian airline based at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow. It was created as a spin-off from the Vnukovo Airport division of Aeroflot in March 1993 and operated until 2001, when it was bought by Siberian Airlines....
Tu-154 flying from Makhachkala
Makhachkala
-Twin towns/sister cities:Makhachkala is twinned with: Sfax, Tunisia Siping, China Spokane, United States Vladikavkaz, Russia Yalova, Turkey Ndola, Zambia-See also:*...
to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
was hijacked by a man demanding it be diverted to Israel. The plane landed at an Israeli military base where hijacker surrendered. None of 59 people on board were injured.
2001, 15 March: another Vnukovo AirlinesVnukovo Airlines
Vnukovo Airlines is a defunct Russian airline based at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow. It was created as a spin-off from the Vnukovo Airport division of Aeroflot in March 1993 and operated until 2001, when it was bought by Siberian Airlines....
Tu-154 flying from Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
was hijacked by a three Chechen terrorists
Terrorism in Russia
Terrorism in Russia has a long history starting from the times of the Russian Empire. Terrorism, in the modern sense, means violence against civilians to achieve political or ideological objectives by creating fear...
demanding it be diverted to Saudi Arabia. After the plane with 174 people on board landed at Medina the terrorist threatened to blow it up unless it would be refuelled for flying to Afghanistan. The Saudi authorities decided to storm the plane. During the assault 2 people were killed by Saudi police: one of the passengers (Turkish citizen), and the leader of the terrorists. The stewardess, Yulia Fomina, was killed during the hijacking, and later the plane was named after her.
2001: American Airlines flight 11
American Airlines Flight 11
American Airlines Flight 11 was American Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight from Logan International Airport, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport, in Los Angeles, California...
, United Airlines Flight 175
United Airlines Flight 175
United Airlines Flight 175 was United Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight, from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California...
, American Airlines Flight 77
American Airlines Flight 77
American Airlines Flight 77 was American Airlines' daily scheduled morning transcontinental flight, from Washington Dulles International Airport, in Dulles, Virginia to Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California...
, United Airlines Flight 93
United Airlines Flight 93
United Airlines Flight 93 was United Airlines' scheduled morning transcontinental flight across the United States from Newark International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco International Airport in California. On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the Boeing 757–222 aircraft operating the...
, were hijacked on the morning of September 11 by Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
-affiliated Islamic extremists. Two planes were deliberately crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, one was crashed into the Pentagon and one crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Both towers of The World Trade Center collapsed; in total 2,976 victims and 19 hijackers were killed and over 6000 people were injured. The hijacking leads to The war on Afghanistan
2006: Turkish Airlines Flight 1476
Turkish Airlines Flight 1476
Turkish Airlines Flight 1476 was a Turkish Airlines flight that was hijacked by Hakan Ekinci in Greek airspace on October 3, 2006. Ekinci wanted to go to Rome to speak with the Pope, but Greek and Italian F-16 Fighting Falcon jets intercepted and escorted the aircraft until it landed in Brindisi,...
, flying from Tirana
Tirana
Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...
to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, was hijacked in Greek airspace. The aircraft, with 107 passengers and six crew on board, transmitted two coded hijack signals which were picked up by the Greek air force; the flight was intercepted by military aircraft and landed safely at Brindisi
Brindisi
Brindisi is a city in the Apulia region of Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea.Historically, the city has played an important role in commerce and culture, due to its position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city...
, Italy.
2007: an Air West
Air West
Air West is an airline based in Khartoum, Sudan. It operates domestic passenger services and international cargo charters. Its main base is Khartoum International Airport, with a hub at Sharjah International Airport...
Boeing 737 was hijacked over
Air West Flight 612
Air West Flight 612 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Air West between Khartoum, Sudan and Al-Fashir. On January 24, 2007, with 103 people on board, the flight, operated by a Boeing 737, was hijacked shortly after takeoff by a male individual...
Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, but landed safely at N'Djamena
N'Djamena
N'Djamena is the capital and largest city of Chad. A port on the Chari River, near the confluence with the Logone River, it directly faces the Cameroonian town of Kousséri, to which the city is connected by a bridge. It is also a special statute region, divided in 10 arrondissements. It is a...
, Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
.
2007: an Air Mauritanie
Air Mauritanie
Air Mauritanie was an airline based in Nouakchott, Mauritania. It was the national airline and operated domestic and regional services. A VIP-configured Boeing 727-200 was flown for the Mauritanian government. Its main base was Nouakchott International Airport....
Boeing 737
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
flying from Nouakchott
Nouakchott
-Government:The town was first divided into districts in 1973. First it was divided into four. From 1986, the city has been split into nine districts.* Arafat* Dar Naim* El Mina* Ksar* Riad* Sebkha* Tevragh-Zeina* Teyarett* Toujounine...
to Las Palmas
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria commonly known as Las Palmas is the political capital, jointly with Santa Cruz, the most populous city in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the ninth largest city in Spain, with a population of 383,308 in 2010. Nearly half of the people of the island...
with 87 passengers on board was hijacked by a man who wanted to fly to Paris, but the plane landed in an air base near Las Palmas and the hijacker, a Moroccan
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, was arrested.
2007: an Atlasjet
Atlasjet
Atlasjet Havacılık A.Ş. is an airline based in Florya, Bakırköy district, Istanbul, Turkey, operating domestic and international scheduled passenger services and regular charter flights to Europe, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates, usually out of either Atatürk International Airport,...
MD-80 en route from Nicosia
Nicosia
Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...
to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
was hijacked by two Arab students, who said they were Al Qaeda operatives, one trained in Afghanistan, and wanted to go to Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. The plane landed in Antalya
Antalya
Antalya is a city on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey. With a population 1,001,318 as of 2010. It is the eighth most populous city in Turkey and country's biggest international sea resort.- History :...
, the passengers escaped and the hijackers were arrested.
2008: a Sun Air
Air West
Air West is an airline based in Khartoum, Sudan. It operates domestic passenger services and international cargo charters. Its main base is Khartoum International Airport, with a hub at Sharjah International Airport...
Boeing 737
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
flying from Nyala, Darfur, in Western Sudan to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, was hijacked shortly after takeoff. The hijackers demanded to be taken to France where they reputedly wanted to gain asylum. The plane initially tried to land at Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
but was refused permission. It subsequently touched down at Kufra
Kufra
Kufra is a basin and oasis group in Al Kufrah District, southeastern Cyrenaica in Libya. Kufra is historically important above all because at the end of nineteenth century it became the center and holy place of the Senussi order...
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
. The hijackers gave themselves up almost 24 hours after taking the plane. There were no reported casualties.
2009: CanJet Flight 918
CanJet Flight 918
CanJet Flight 918 was a flight that was on 19 April 2009 to have taken off from Sangster International Airport , Montego Bay, Jamaica, bound for Halifax Stanfield International Airport , Halifax, Canada, but was instead seized before takeoff for hours by an armed, lone hijacker...
, a Boeing 737-800 preparing to depart from the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica to Canada was hijacked by a gunman who forced his way through airport security onto the plane. His main motive was a demand to the crew to fly him to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. Most of the passengers on the plane gave him money to buy their freedom. For the rest of the night, negotiations took place as 6 crew members were held hostage in the flight for several hours. Quick responses from the police force allowed them to disarm the hijacker and arrest him. There were no casualties.
2009: AeroMéxico
Aeroméxico
Airways of Mexico, SA de CV , operating as Aeroméxico, is the flag carrier airline of Mexico based in Colonia Cuauhtémoc, Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City. It operates scheduled domestic and international services to North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia...
Flight 576
Aeroméxico Flight 576
AeroMéxico Flight 576 was a Mexican domestic passenger flight from Cancún to Mexico City that was hijacked on 9 September 2009. The plane was flown to Mexico City International Airport where the passengers were released. A short while later, the crew was also released and authorities detained five...
, a Boeing 737-800 flying from Cancún
Cancún
Cancún is a city of international tourism development certified by the UNWTO . Located on the northeast coast of Quintana Roo in southern Mexico, more than 1,700 km from Mexico City, the Project began operations in 1974 as Integrally Planned Center, a pioneer of FONATUR Cancún is a city of...
to Mexico City was hijacked by José Marc Flores Pereira, a Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
n citizen claiming he had a bomb and demanding to speak to Mexican president Felipe Calderón
Felipe Calderón
Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa is the current President of Mexico. He assumed office on December 1, 2006, and was elected for a single six-year term through 2012...
. The plane landed at Mexico City International Airport
Mexico City International Airport
Benito Juárez International Airport , in Venustiano Carranza, one of the sixteen boroughs into which Mexico's Federal District is divided, is a commercial airport that serves Mexico City, the capital of Mexico...
where it then taxied to a remote stand where the passengers and crew were later released. Mexican officials stormed the plane where 5 men were taken into custody with only 1 being held. There were no casualties. It was the first hijackings for the airline.
2010s
January 2011: Turkish Airlines Flight 1754, flying from OsloOslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, was in Bulgarian airspace when, allegedly, an unsuccessful attempt was made to hijack it. The suspect allegedly said that he had a bomb and that he would blow up the aircraft unless the plane returned to Norway. Some passengers overpowered the hijacker and the flight safely landed at Atatürk International Airport
Atatürk International Airport
Atatürk International Airport is the major international airport in Istanbul, Turkey. Opened in 1924 and located in Yeşilköy, on the European side of the city, it is west of the city centre. In 1980, the airport was renamed to Atatürk International Airport in honor of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the...
at 9:30 p.m after the pilot notified emergency service. All 60 passengers and seven crew got off the aircraft; none were injured during the incident. The suspect was arrested.
April 2011: an attempt was made to hijack Alitalia Flight 329, en-route from Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to Fiumicino Airport, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and divert it to Tripoli International Airport
Tripoli International Airport
The Tripoli International Airport is an international airport that serves Tripoli, Libya. It is operated by the Civil Aviation and Meteorology Bureau of Libya and is the nation's largest airport...
, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
. The hijacker, reported to be an advisor to the Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
delegation to UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
, was subdued by cabin crew and other passengers. He was arrested and taken into custody after the aircraft made a safe landing at Rome.
See also
- Aircraft hijackingAircraft hijackingAircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
- Korean Air incidents and accidentsKorean Air incidents and accidents- 1950s :* 16 February 1958 – A scheduled domestic Korean National Airlines passenger flight between Busan and Seoul was diverted to Pyongyang, North Korea, by eight hijackers. Occupants: 34. Injuries: 0. Deaths: 0. Damage: none...
- List of Cuba-US aircraft hijackings
- List of hijacking of Turkish airplanes