Refugees and terrorists: 10 kidnappings for political reasons Did you know?

There have been hundreds of hijackings in the history of aviation. The motives of many hijackers were unrelated to politics – some hijackers were simply seeking ransom or other personal gain, such as DBCooper, whose story has become particularly famous.

But as in the history of aviation, there have been many hijackings related to politics or political circumstances.

Sometimes the hijackers were members of terrorist organizations seeking, for example, the release from prison of members of their organizations in exchange for the release of air passengers.

Other hijackers tried to hijack the plane to flee to other countries and seek asylum there. There was even a plan to hit the Eiffel Tower with a hijacked plane.

Portal 15 minutes invites access to the history of 10 aircraft hijackings of aviation-related policies, although they were carried out on behalf of the state. Sometimes the kidnappers’ motives were clearly terrorist, sometimes it was just a desire to escape communism to the free world.

1950, Czechoslovakia

1950 March 24, three Douglas DC-3 airliners were hijacked in Czechoslovakia on the same day by eight former pilots of the Royal Czech Air Force attempting to escape communist Czechoslovakia to the West.

Planned for several months, it was the first mass hijacking of airliners in aviation history, with more than one plane hijacked in a coordinated fashion.

Most of the hijackers were pilots and crew of airliners. As former members of the interwar Royal Czech Air Force, they were considered politically unreliable and only allowed to fly on domestic Czechoslovakian passenger flights.

All three planes were headed for West Germany. They landed on a US military base in Erding, West Germany. The kidnappers were allowed to stay in the West.

Not just for them: Up to 26 of the 85 passengers on the three planes who were suddenly hijacked also took the opportunity to seek asylum in West Germany and thus escape the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

1968, Algeria

1968 three fighters from the Front for the Liberation of the Palestinian People, threatening with pistols, hijacked a plane flying from Rome to Israel and directed it to Algeria.

When the plane landed in Algeria, all the non-Israeli passengers on the plane were released the next day.

The remaining 12 passengers and 10 crew members remained hostages pending negotiations for their release. The negotiations lasted up to 40 days.

Ultimately, the talks ended with the release of all passengers and crew in exchange for the release of 16 Arab prisoners in Israel. The kidnappers were also released and escaped punishment.

1970 m., SSRS

1970 October 15 There was one of the first hijackings of planes in the USSR. Two Lithuanians participated. The father and son Brazinskas hijacked an Aeroflot airliner flying from Batumi to Sukhumi and forced the pilot to land it in Turkey.

The hijackers secretly brought a pistol and a hunting rifle to the plane. A flight attendant was shot and killed during the kidnapping and another crew member was injured.

In Turkey, the Brazinskis tried to obtain political asylum but were imprisoned for murder. After serving their sentence, in 1976, they were released, went to the United States and sought asylum there. They were intercepted by Lithuanians in the United States and allowed to remain in the country.

2002 His son Algirdas Brazinskas was charged with the murder of his father Pran, sentenced and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

A few years ago 15 minutes published an interview with the historian Algimantas Kasparavičius, where this he told in more detail about the hijacking of the plane by Brazinskis.

1976 m., Uganda

1976 June 27 The Air France Airbus A300 passenger plane, which flew from Tel Aviv to Paris, was occupied by four members of the Palestinian People’s Liberation Front.

The hijackers directed a plane with 248 passengers to Entebbe, the main airport in Uganda, Africa. The dictator Idi Amin, who was ruling the country at the time, supported the kidnappers and knew in advance about the planned kidnapping.

The kidnappers demanded the release of 40 Palestinian fighters detained in Israel and another 13 prisoners in other countries in exchange for the release of hostages.

Two days after the hijacking, 148 non-Israeli passengers on the plane were released and 94 passengers, most of them Israeli, and 12 crew members were taken hostage. They are threatened with death if the requirements are not met.

Israel’s special duty has forcibly released the hostages. 100 Israeli Special Forces soldiers who secretly flew to Uganda successfully liberated 102 hostages, killing 4 during the liberation operation.

The only Israeli soldier, Colonel Yonathan Netanyahu, brother of future Israeli Prime Minister Benyam Netanyahu, was killed. All the kidnappers and 45 Ugandan soldiers were also killed.

While Kenya, which borders Uganda, assisted Israel in the liberation operation, Idi Amin ordered the murder of several hundred Kenyan citizens who were in Uganda at the time. A total of 245 Kenyan citizens died and several thousand fled the country.

1985, Egypt

1985 three Palestinian members of the terrorist organization Abu Nidal, armed with firearms and grenades, hijacked an Egyptian plane flying from Greece to Egypt.

There were 89 passengers and 6 crew members on the plane, most of the passengers were Egyptians. One of the hijackers was killed and several members of the crew were injured during the hijacking.

The hijackers allowed the pilots to land the plane in Malta for refueling, where negotiations began. After the Maltese prime minister refused to allow the plane to take off again and the airport was surrounded by troops, the hijackers began firing one at a time every 15 minutes.

Finally, arriving Egyptian special forces, with permission from Malta, stormed the plane.

During the storm, which was later heavily criticized by the Maltese government, the hijackers detonated grenades on board the plane and a fire broke out in the cabin. A total of 59 passengers and crew members died. This incident became one of the deadliest in the history of aviation.

One kidnapper, Omar Rezaq, was arrested alive and spent seven years in a prison in Malta, receiving relatively lenient sentences because the Maltese legal system had no laws punishing terrorism at the time.

He was living in Africa after his release, but was arrested by US officials in Nigeria, taken to the United States, and is currently a life-long prisoner in an American prison.

1986, Pakistan

Four men armed with firearms and grenades, dressed as airport security personnel, belonged to the same Abu Nidal organization in 1986. September 5 An American Pan Pan plane with 379 passengers and crew was hijacked at the Karachi airport in Pakistan.

The plane, which was flying from Bombay (India) to New York, landed in Karachi to refuel.

During the hijacking, the pilots managed to escape, so the hijackers did not have the opportunity to pick up the plane. After a 16-hour siege, the terrorists tried to blow up the plane, but failed.

Then they started shooting at the passengers. However, their ammunition quickly ran out and Pakistani special forces stormed the plane and detained the terrorists as soon as they heard the shots.

A total of 21 passengers and crew members died and around 120 were injured. The perpetrators of the attack in Pakistan have been sentenced to life imprisonment. One of them in 2001 handed over to the Americans and still serving a sentence in the US, others in 2008. deported to Palestine. They are on the list of the most wanted terrorists in the United States.

1994, France

1994 December 24, Algeria, at the time of the civil war, the 220 passenger plane, which was supposed to fly from the capital Algeria to Paris, was seized by three hijackers of an Islamist terrorist organization that was trying to overthrow the Algerian government in the war .

Predators posing as Algerian authorities were planning a plane to the Eiffel Tower.

Three passengers, one of them an Algerian policeman, were killed by terrorists. The hijacked plane took off from Algeria for France, but before reaching Paris, it landed in Marseille to replenish fuel supplies.

Here the plane was attacked by French special forces. During the assault, the four attackers were killed and several members of the French special forces were injured. Nine passengers were also injured, but all survived.

1999, India

An Indian Airlines plane with 157 passengers, flying from Kathmandu, Nepal, to New Delhi, India, was hijacked by five hijackers.

The hijackers ordered the plane to fly to various airports, and eventually the plane landed in the Afghan city of Kandahar, which was then controlled by the Taliban. One passenger died.

After a week of negotiations, India agreed to release three Islamists detained in Indian jails in exchange for the release of hostages, as demanded by the Taliban.

The three men released are believed to have subsequently contributed to the al Qaeda attacks. After the hostages were released, Taliban officials, whose support India expected, allowed the kidnappers to escape safely.

2001, USA

Without a doubt the most famous event on this entire list. 2001 September 11 Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airliners in the United States.

Two of them ran to the World Trade Center skyscrapers in New York, the third to the Pentagon and the fourth fell in Pennsylvania. It was the largest terrorist attack in American history, killing nearly 3,000 people. people. You can read more about the day’s events in this 15-minute text.