TWA Flight 847
Encyclopedia
TWA Flight 847 was an international Trans World Airlines
flight which was hijacked
by Lebanese
Shia extremist
s, 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 scheduled to terminate in London. The passengers and crew endured a three-day intercontinental ordeal. Some passengers were threatened and some beaten. Passengers with Jewish-sounding names were moved apart from the others, and U.S. Navy
diver Robert Dean Stethem was tortured and murdered. His body was thrown onto the tarmac. Dozens of passengers were held hostage over the next two weeks until released by their captors after some of their demands were met.
, tail number N64339, was piloted by 58-year-old Captain John Testrake and departed at 10:10 on 14 June 1985, carrying 153 passengers and crew, including flight engineer Benjamin C. Zimmermann, co-pilot Philip G. Maresca, and flight attendant
Uli Derickson
.
It was commandeered shortly after takeoff by two German-speaking Lebanese
men who had smuggled pistols and grenades through the Athens airport security. One was later identified as Mohammed Ali Hamadi, who was later captured and sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany.
and made its first stop, for several hours, at the Beirut International Airport in Lebanon
, where 19 passengers were allowed to leave in exchange for fuel. During this time, Lebanon was in the midst of a civil war
, and Beirut was divided into sectors controlled by different militias.
That afternoon, the aircraft continued on to Algiers, Algeria, where 20 passengers were released during a five-hour stop before heading back to Beirut on Friday night.
During this stop, the hijackers identified a U.S. Navy diver, Robert Stethem
, among the passengers. They beat him, shot him in the right temple, and dumped his body out of the plane onto the ramp. Seven American passengers, alleged to have Jewish-sounding surnames, were taken off the jet and held hostage somewhere in Beirut.
The initial demands of the hijackers included:
The Greek government released the accomplice, Ali Atwa
, and in exchange the hijackers released eight Greek citizens, including Greek pop singer Demis Roussos
.
By Monday afternoon, June 17, most of the hostages had been taken from the plane and held hostage somewhere in Beirut. These 40 remaining hostages were held by Nabih Berri
, the chief of the Amal
militia and the Minister of Justice in the fractured Lebanon cabinet. One of the hostages was released when he developed heart trouble. The other 39 remained captive until 30 June, when they were driven to Syria
. The hostages then boarded a U.S. Air Force C-141B Starlifter cargo plane and flew to Rhein-Main AB, West Germany
. Over the next several weeks, Israel released over 700 Shia prisoners, while maintaining that the prisoners' release was not related to the hijacking.
Flight attendant Uli Derickson
was widely credited with calming the hijackers and saving the lives of many passengers. Because her German
was the only common language with the hijackers, who spoke poor English
, she acted as translator and liaison for most of the ordeal. Notably, she defused a tense situation in Algiers when airport officials refused to refuel the plane without payment by offering her own Shell Oil credit card
, which was used to charge about $5,500 for 6,000 gallons of jet fuel, for which she was reimbursed. She also hid the passports of Jewish passengers so they could not be singled out.
of the University of St. Andrews, credits "leading Hezbollah members Hassan Izz-Al-Din
(later involved in the Kuwait flight 422 hijacking in 1988) and Mohammed Ali Hammadi
whose brother was one of the heads of the Hezbollah SSA (Special Security Apparatus). Iran
assisting Hezbollah operatives in the "supervision and planning of the incident itself and as an active participant in the defusion and resolution."
On October 10, 2001, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, three of the alleged hijackers, Imad Mugniyah
, Ali Atwa
and Hassan Izz-Al-Din
, having been earlier indicted in United States district court
s for the 1985 skyjacking of the American airliner, were among the original 22 fugitives announced by President George W. Bush to be placed on the newly formed FBI Most Wanted Terrorists
list. Rewards of $5 million for information leading to their arrests and convictions are still being offered by the United States
.
Another of the hijackers, Mohammed Ali Hammadi
, was arrested in 1987 in Frankfurt, Germany (then West Germany
), while attempting to smuggle liquid explosives, two years after the TWA Flight 847 attack. In addition to the West German charge of illegal importation of explosives, he was tried and convicted of Stethem's 1985 murder and was sentenced to life in prison. However, he was paroled and released by German officials on December 20, 2005, and returned to Lebanon. On February 14, 2006 the United States
formally asked the Lebanese government to extradite Mohammed Ali Hammadi for the murder of U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem
during the 1985 hijacking. On February 24, 2006, he appeared as well on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list, under the name Mohammed Ali Hamadei. He was among the second group of indicted fugitives to be named by the FBI to the list.
Several news outlets reported the announcement by Hezbollah of the death of Imad Mugniyah
in a car bomb explosion in Syria on February 13, 2008. The remaining three fugitives from TWA Flight 847 remain on the list, and at large.
Hezbollah reportedly denies culpability in the TWA Flight 847 attack, among its denials of numerous other attacks which have been attributed to the group. Still, the FBI wanted poster
s of each of the indicted fugitives alleges their individual membership or leadership role in the organization the FBI names as "Lebanese Hezbollah," which it plainly then calls a "terrorist organization."
Trans World Airlines
Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946...
flight which was 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...
by Lebanese
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...
Shia extremist
Extremism
Extremism is any ideology or political act far outside the perceived political center of a society; or otherwise claimed to violate common moral standards...
s, later identified as members of Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad
Islamic Jihad Organization
The Islamic Jihad Organization – IJO or Organisation du Jihad Islamique in French, but best known as ‘Islamic Jihad’ for short, was a fundamentalist Shia group known for its activities in the 1980s during the Lebanese Civil War...
, on Friday morning, June 14, 1985, after originally taking off from 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...
. The flight was en route from Athens to Rome and then scheduled to terminate in London. The passengers and crew endured a three-day intercontinental ordeal. Some passengers were threatened and some beaten. Passengers with Jewish-sounding names were moved apart from the others, and U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
diver Robert Dean Stethem was tortured and murdered. His body was thrown onto the tarmac. Dozens of passengers were held hostage over the next two weeks until released by their captors after some of their demands were met.
Hijacking events
The Boeing 727Boeing 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...
, tail number N64339, was piloted by 58-year-old Captain John Testrake and departed at 10:10 on 14 June 1985, carrying 153 passengers and crew, including flight engineer Benjamin C. Zimmermann, co-pilot Philip G. Maresca, and flight attendant
Flight attendant
Flight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar...
Uli Derickson
Uli Derickson
Ulrike Patzelt , better known as Uli Derickson, was a flight attendant during the June 14, 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 by Organization of the Oppressed on Earth terrorists, a group with alleged links to Hezbollah...
.
It was commandeered shortly after takeoff by two German-speaking Lebanese
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...
men who had smuggled pistols and grenades through the Athens airport security. One was later identified as Mohammed Ali Hamadi, who was later captured and sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany.
To Beirut, then Algiers
The plane was diverted from airspace over Greece to the Middle EastMiddle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and made its first stop, for several hours, at the Beirut International Airport in 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...
, where 19 passengers were allowed to leave in exchange for fuel. During this time, Lebanon was in the midst of a civil war
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
, and Beirut was divided into sectors controlled by different militias.
That afternoon, the aircraft continued on to Algiers, Algeria, where 20 passengers were released during a five-hour stop before heading back to Beirut on Friday night.
Back to Beirut
Beirut International Airport, surrounded by a Shia neighborhood, had no perimeter security and nearby residents could simply drive onto the runway.During this stop, the hijackers identified a U.S. 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...
, among the passengers. They beat him, shot him in the right temple, and dumped his body out of the plane onto the ramp. Seven American passengers, alleged to have Jewish-sounding surnames, were taken off the jet and held hostage somewhere in Beirut.
Algiers, Beirut again
Nearly a dozen armed men joined the hijackers before the plane returned to Algiers the following day, Saturday, 15 June, where an additional 65 passengers were released. It returned to Beirut for a third time, landing on Sunday afternoon, 16 June, and remained there.The initial demands of the hijackers included:
- the release of the "Kuwait 17," those involved in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Kuwait1983 Kuwait bombingsThe 1983 Kuwait bombings were attacks on six key foreign and Kuwaiti installations on December 12, 1983, two months after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. The 90-minute coordinated attack on two embassies, the country's main airport and petro-chemical plant, was more notable for the damage it was...
. - the release of all 766 mainly Lebanese Shias transferred to IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in conjunction with Israel's immediate withdrawal from Lebanon; (a pullout had been underway since January and was already virtually complete) - international condemnation of Israel and the United States. and
- condemnation of the 8 March 1985, car bombing in the Beirut suburb1985 Beirut Car BombingOn 8 March 1985, a car bomb exploded between 9 and 45 metres from the house of Islamic cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah in Beirut, Lebanon, in a failed assassination attempt organized by the American CIA and British intelligence...
of Bir al Abed earlier that year.
The Greek government released the accomplice, Ali Atwa
Ali Atwa
Ali Atwa is a Lebanese national and member of the Islamist organization Hezbollah. Atwa is also known as Ammar Mansour Bouslim and Hassan Rostom Salim....
, and in exchange the hijackers released eight Greek citizens, including Greek pop 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...
.
By Monday afternoon, June 17, most of the hostages had been taken from the plane and held hostage somewhere in Beirut. These 40 remaining hostages were held by Nabih Berri
Nabih Berri
Nabih Berri is the Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon. He heads the mostly Shi'a Amal Movement.-Biography:He was born in Bo, Sierra Leone to Lebanese parents. He went to school in Tebnine and Ain Ebel in southern Lebanon and later studied at the Makassed and the Ecole de la Sagesse in Beirut...
, the chief of the Amal
Amal 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...
militia and the Minister of Justice in the fractured Lebanon cabinet. One of the hostages was released when he developed heart trouble. The other 39 remained captive until 30 June, when they were driven to Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. The hostages then boarded a U.S. Air Force C-141B Starlifter cargo plane and flew to Rhein-Main AB, West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. Over the next several weeks, Israel released over 700 Shia prisoners, while maintaining that the prisoners' release was not related to the hijacking.
Aftermath
The iconic image of this hijacking was a photograph showing a gun being held to the pilot's head, sticking out of the cockpit window, while he was being questioned by reporters. The scene was staged by a teenaged security guard left by the hijackers to hold the crew after all other hostages had either been released or taken into captivity elsewhere in Beirut. The teenager actually unloaded the gun before staging the scene, as he wanted to be on television.Flight attendant Uli Derickson
Uli Derickson
Ulrike Patzelt , better known as Uli Derickson, was a flight attendant during the June 14, 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 by Organization of the Oppressed on Earth terrorists, a group with alleged links to Hezbollah...
was widely credited with calming the hijackers and saving the lives of many passengers. Because her German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
was the only common language with the hijackers, who spoke poor English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, she acted as translator and liaison for most of the ordeal. Notably, she defused a tense situation in Algiers when airport officials refused to refuel the plane without payment by offering her own Shell Oil credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
, which was used to charge about $5,500 for 6,000 gallons of jet fuel, for which she was reimbursed. She also hid the passports of Jewish passengers so they could not be singled out.
Nationalities
| Nationality | Passengers | Crew | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 0 | 15 | |
| 8 | 1 | 9 | |
| 11 | 0 | 11 | |
 Republic of Ireland |
0 | 1 | 1 |
| 24 | 2 | 26 | |
| 78 | 4 | 82 | |
| 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| Total | 145 | 8 | 153 |
Alleged perpetrators
Hezbollah specialist Magnus RanstorpMagnus Ranstorp
Dr Magnus Ranstorp, born March 13, 1965 in Hästveda, studies Hizballah, Hamas, al-Qaeda and other militant Islamic movements. He is the Research Director of the Centre for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defence College, directing a project on Strategic Terrorist Threats to Europe...
of the University of St. Andrews, credits "leading Hezbollah members Hassan Izz-Al-Din
Hassan Izz-Al-Din
Hasan Izz-Al-Din is a Lebanese national wanted by the United States government.Hasan Izz-Al-Din is an alleged member of Hezbollah. He is currently wanted by the United States government for his alleged involvement in the June 14, 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847. This attack resulted in the...
(later involved in the Kuwait flight 422 hijacking in 1988) and Mohammed Ali Hammadi
Mohammed Ali Hammadi
Mohammed Ali Hammadi aka Mohammed Ali Hamadi and Mohammed Ali Hamadei, is a wanted terrorist. A Lebanese citizen and alleged member of Hezbollah , he was convicted in a West German court of law of air piracy, murder, and possession of explosives for his part in the June 14, 1985 hijacking of TWA...
whose brother was one of the heads of the Hezbollah SSA (Special Security Apparatus). 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...
assisting Hezbollah operatives in the "supervision and planning of the incident itself and as an active participant in the defusion and resolution."
On October 10, 2001, in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, three of the alleged hijackers, Imad Mugniyah
Imad Mugniyah
Imad Fayez Mughniyah , also transliterated Mughniyya, Mughniyeh, Mogniyah, , alias Hajj Radwan , was a senior member of Lebanon's Hezbollah organisation. He was alternatively described as the head of its security section, a senior intelligence official and as a founder of the organisation...
, Ali Atwa
Ali Atwa
Ali Atwa is a Lebanese national and member of the Islamist organization Hezbollah. Atwa is also known as Ammar Mansour Bouslim and Hassan Rostom Salim....
and Hassan Izz-Al-Din
Hassan Izz-Al-Din
Hasan Izz-Al-Din is a Lebanese national wanted by the United States government.Hasan Izz-Al-Din is an alleged member of Hezbollah. He is currently wanted by the United States government for his alleged involvement in the June 14, 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847. This attack resulted in the...
, having been earlier indicted in United States district court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
s for the 1985 skyjacking of the American airliner, were among the original 22 fugitives announced by President George W. Bush to be placed on the newly formed FBI Most Wanted Terrorists
FBI Most Wanted Terrorists
The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Most Wanted Terrorists is a list of fugitives who have been indicted by sitting Federal grand juries in the United States district courts, for alleged crimes of terrorism. The initial list was formed in late 2001 in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks...
list. Rewards of $5 million for information leading to their arrests and convictions are still being offered by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Another of the hijackers, Mohammed Ali Hammadi
Mohammed Ali Hammadi
Mohammed Ali Hammadi aka Mohammed Ali Hamadi and Mohammed Ali Hamadei, is a wanted terrorist. A Lebanese citizen and alleged member of Hezbollah , he was convicted in a West German court of law of air piracy, murder, and possession of explosives for his part in the June 14, 1985 hijacking of TWA...
, was arrested in 1987 in Frankfurt, Germany (then West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
), while attempting to smuggle liquid explosives, two years after the TWA Flight 847 attack. In addition to the West German charge of illegal importation of explosives, he was tried and convicted of Stethem's 1985 murder and was sentenced to life in prison. However, he was paroled and released by German officials on December 20, 2005, and returned to Lebanon. On February 14, 2006 the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
formally asked the Lebanese government to extradite Mohammed Ali Hammadi for the murder of U.S. 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...
during the 1985 hijacking. On February 24, 2006, he appeared as well on the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list, under the name Mohammed Ali Hamadei. He was among the second group of indicted fugitives to be named by the FBI to the list.
Several news outlets reported the announcement by Hezbollah of the death of Imad Mugniyah
Imad Mugniyah
Imad Fayez Mughniyah , also transliterated Mughniyya, Mughniyeh, Mogniyah, , alias Hajj Radwan , was a senior member of Lebanon's Hezbollah organisation. He was alternatively described as the head of its security section, a senior intelligence official and as a founder of the organisation...
in a car bomb explosion in Syria on February 13, 2008. The remaining three fugitives from TWA Flight 847 remain on the list, and at large.
Hezbollah reportedly denies culpability in the TWA Flight 847 attack, among its denials of numerous other attacks which have been attributed to the group. Still, the FBI wanted poster
Wanted poster
A wanted poster is a poster distributed to let the public know of an alleged criminal whom authorities wish to apprehend. They will generally include either a picture of the alleged criminal when a photograph is available, or of a facial composite image produced by a police artist...
s of each of the indicted fugitives alleges their individual membership or leadership role in the organization the FBI names as "Lebanese Hezbollah," which it plainly then calls a "terrorist organization."