Dawson's Field hijackings
The airliners on the ground during the PFLP-hosted press conference
Location	Zarqa. Jordan
Coordinates	32°6′22″N 36°9′36″E / 32.10611, 36.16Coordinates: 32°6′22″N 36°9′36″E / 32.10611, 36.16
Date	September 06, 1970 (1970-09-06)
Attack type	Aircraft hijacking
Perpetrator(s)	Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

In the Dawson's Field hijackings (September 6, 1970) four jet aircraft bound for New York City were hijacked by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Zarqa (Arabic الزرقاء az-Zarqā, local dialects ez-Zergā or ez-Zera, The Blue One) is a city in Jordan located to the northeast of Amman. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ... September 6 is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years). ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Hijackers inside flightdeck of TWA Flight 847 Aircraft hijacking (also known as skyjacking and aircraft piracy) is the take-over of an aircraft, by a person or group, usually armed. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jet aircraft are aircrafts with jet engines. ... Hijackers inside flightdeck of TWA Flight 847 Aircraft hijacking (also known as skyjacking and aircraft piracy) is the take-over of an aircraft, by a person or group, usually armed. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

• TWA Flight 741 from Frankfurt am Main and Swissair Flight 100 from Zürich-Kloten Airport landed at Zarqa, also known as Dawson's Field, a remote desert airstrip in Jordan formerly used as a British Royal Air Force base.^[1]

• The hijacking of El Al Flight 219 from Amsterdam was foiled: hijacker Patrick Arguello was shot and killed, and his partner Leila Khaled was subdued and turned over to British authorities in London. Two PFLP hijackers who were prevented from boarding the El Al flight instead hijacked Pan Am Flight 93, a Boeing 747, diverting the large plane first to Beirut and then to Cairo rather than the small Jordanian airstrip.

• A fifth plane, BOAC Flight 775 from Bahrain, was hijacked on September 9 by a PFLP sympathizer and brought to Dawson's Field in order to pressure the British to free Khaled.

While the majority of the 310 hostages were transferred to Amman and freed on September 11, the PFLP segregated the flight crews and Jewish passengers, keeping 56 hostages in custody.^[2] On September 12, prior to their announced deadline, the PFLP used explosives to destroy the empty planes, as they anticipated a counterstrike.^[3] Most of the gathered news media missed the destruction but the explosions were caught by a British television crew from ITN who had been informed by locals who had themselves been informed by members of the PFLP. The Twa, also known as Batwa, are a pygmy people who were the oldest recorded inhabitants of the Great Lakes region of central Africa. ... Frankfurt am Main [ˈfraŋkfʊrt] is the largest city in the German state of Hessen and the fifth largest city of Germany. ... Swissair (Swiss Air Transport Company Limited) was the former national airline of Switzerland. ... Arrivals Lounge Interior of airport terminal Zurich International Airport (IATA: ZRH, ICAO: LSZH) also called Kloten Airport, is located at 47°29′N 8°32′E in Kloten, canton of Zurich, Switzerland and managed by Unique Airport. ... RAF redirects here. ... Categories: Airline stubs | Companies of Israel | Transportation in Israel | Airlines of Israel ... For other uses, see Amsterdam (disambiguation). ... Argüello in an undated photo The only hijacker killed in the Dawsons Field hijackings of 1970, Patrick Argüello had the distinction of being a Nicaraguan fighting alongside the Palestinian PFLP. // Youth Patrick was born in March 1943 to a Nicaraguan father and an American mother. ... Leila Khaled in the 1970s Leila Khaled (Arabic: ; born April 9, 1944) is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), part of the secular, leftwing Palestinian rejectionist front. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) was the United States principal international airline from the 1930s until its collapse in 1991, and was credited with many innovations that shaped the international airline industry. ... The Boeing 747, sometimes nicknamed the Jumbo Jet,[4][5] is a long-haul, widebody commercial airliner manufactured by Boeing in the United States. ... This article is about the Lebanese city. ... For other uses, see Cairo (disambiguation). ... BOAC Logo The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946. ... is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other meanings, see Amman (disambiguation) and Ammann. ... is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ... is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Independent Television News (ITN) is the main supplier of news broadcasts to two British television groups: ITV and Channel 4. ...

The PFLP's exploitation of Jordanian territory in the drama was another instance of the increasingly autonomous Palestinian activity within the Kingdom of Jordan — an existential challenge to the Hashemite monarchy of King Hussein. Hussein declared martial law on September 16, and from September 17 to 27, his forces deployed into Palestinian-controlled areas in what became known as Black September in Jordan, nearly triggering a regional war involving Syria, Iraq, and Israel with potentially global consequences. Swift Jordanian victory, however, enabled a September 30 deal in which the remaining PFLP hostages were released in exchange for Khaled and three PFLP members in a Swiss jail.^[3] The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, commonly called Jordan, is a country in the Middle East. ... Hashemite is the Anglicised version of the Arabic: هاشمي (transliteration: Hashemi) and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim, or clan of Hashem, a clan within the larger Quraish tribe. ... Hussein bin Talal (Arabic: حسين بن طلال) (November 14, 1935 - February 7, 1999) was the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from 1952 to 1999. ... For other uses, see Martial law (disambiguation). ... is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants PLO Jordan Commanders Yasser Arafat King Hussein Casualties 7,000-8,000 killed[1] This article, Black September in Jordan, describes the events surrounding September, 1970 in Jordan. ... Combatants Arab nations Israel Arab-Israeli conflict series History of the Arab-Israeli conflict Views of the Arab-Israeli conflict International law and the Arab-Israeli conflict Arab-Israeli conflict facts, figures, and statistics Participants Israeli-Palestinian conflict · Israel-Lebanon conflict · Arab League · Soviet Union / Russia · Israel, Palestine and the... is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Background

The PFLP

The hijackings occurred in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (Arabic الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين - al-jabhah al-sha'biyyah li-tahrīr filastīn), a Marxist-Leninist, nationalist Palestinian political and military organization, was founded in 1967. Prior to the Dawson's Field hijackings, the PFLP had already achieved notoriety for several similar incidents, including the hijacking of an El Al flight from Rome to Lod airport, Israel, on July 23, 1968, in which 21 passengers and 11 crew members were held for 39 days; armed attacks on El Al jets in Athens (December 1968), killing one and wounding two, and Zürich (February 1969), killing the co-pilot and wounding the pilot; and the hijacking of a TWA flight from Los Angeles to Damascus on August 29, 1969, by a PFLP cell led by Leila Khaled, who became the PFLP's most famous recruit. Two Israeli passengers were held for 44 days. Combatants Arab nations Israel Arab-Israeli conflict series History of the Arab-Israeli conflict Views of the Arab-Israeli conflict International law and the Arab-Israeli conflict Arab-Israeli conflict facts, figures, and statistics Participants Israeli-Palestinian conflict · Israel-Lebanon conflict · Arab League · Soviet Union / Russia · Israel, Palestine and the... Arabic redirects here. ... Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism is a political and economic theory which builds upon Marxism; it is a branch of Marxism (and it has been the dominant branch of Marxism in the world since the 1920s). ... Eugène Delacroixs Liberty Leading the People, symbolising French nationalism during the July Revolution 1830. ... The term Palestinian has other usages, for which see definitions of Palestinian. ... Categories: Airline stubs | Companies of Israel | Transportation in Israel | Airlines of Israel ... For other uses, see Rome (disambiguation). ... Downtown area of Lod Lod (Hebrew לוֹד; Arabic اَلْلُدّْ al-Ludd, Greco-Latin Lydda, Tiberian Hebrew לֹד Lōḏ) is a city in the Center District of Israel in Israel. ... is the 204th day of the year (205th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the capital of Greece. ... For other uses of Zurich, see Zurich (disambiguation). ... The Twa, also known as Batwa, are a pygmy people who were the oldest recorded inhabitants of the Great Lakes region of central Africa. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... For other uses, see Damascus (disambiguation). ... is the 241st day of the year (242nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1969 (number) 1969 (movie) 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... Leila Khaled in the 1970s Leila Khaled (Arabic: ; born April 9, 1944) is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), part of the secular, leftwing Palestinian rejectionist front. ...

Several months prior to the Dawson's Field hijackings, the PFLP bombed Swissair Flight 330 bound for Israel, killing 47 on February 21, 1970. Swissair Flight SR330 was a regularly scheduled flight from Zürich International Airport in Kloten, Switzerland to Tel Aviv, Israel. ... is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Palestinian/Jordanian tensions

Adding further tension to the ongoing conflict was civil strife within Jordan itself. After the 1967 Six Day War, in which Israel had captured the Jordanian-occupied West Bank of the Jordan River, thousands of Palestinians were displaced across the river into Jordan, where they became an increasingly autonomous challenge to the Hashemite monarchy of the young King Hussein. The 1967 Arab-Israeli War, also known as the Six-Day War or June War, was fought between Israel and its Arab neighbors Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. ... Hashemite is the Anglicised version of the Arabic: هاشمي (transliteration: Hashemi) and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim, or clan of Hashem, a clan within the larger Quraish tribe. ... For the documentary series, see Monarchy (TV series). ... Hussein bin Talal (Arabic: حسين بن طلال) (November 14, 1935 - February 7, 1999) was the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from 1952 to 1999. ...

Between mid-1968 and the end of 1969, no fewer than 500 violent clashes occurred between Palestinian guerrillas and Jordanian security forces. Cross-border attacks by the Palestine Liberation Organization against Israel were followed by heavy Israeli reprisals that caused high Jordanian civilian and military casualties. In June 1970, an Arab mediation committee intervened to halt two weeks of serious fighting between the two sides.^[4] Several days before the hijackings, King Hussein survived two Palestinian-sponsored assassination attempts. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (Arabic: ;   or Munazzamat al-Tahrir al-Filastiniyyah) is a multi-party confederation and is the organization regarded since 1974 as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. ...

This civil conflict was another part of the background to the Dawson's Field hijackings, which drew the government of Jordan into an international incident precipitated by the PFLP, and eventually led to the events known as Black September in Jordan. Combatants PLO Jordan Commanders Yasser Arafat King Hussein Casualties 7,000-8,000 killed[1] This article, Black September in Jordan, describes the events surrounding September, 1970 in Jordan. ...

Airport security

Aircraft hijackings were a comparatively new development in Europe and the Middle East. Accordingly, airline security was in its infancy; metal detectors were not typically used to screen passengers, and though some of the hijackers' luggage was searched, in each case they boarded the aircraft carrying concealed weapons on their persons. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Inductive sensor. ...

The hijackings

El Al Flight 219

Argüello in an undated photo.

El Al Flight 219 (type Boeing 707, serial 18071/216, registration 4X-ATB) originated in Tel Aviv, Israel, and was headed to New York City. It had 148 passengers and 10 crew members aboard. It stopped in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and was hijacked shortly after it took off from there by Patrick Arguello,^[5] a Nicaraguan American, and Leila Khaled, a Palestinian. is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Boeing 707 is an American four-engine commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. ... El Al Boeing 777-200ER El Al Israel Airlines (‎, skyward) (TASE: ELAL) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Israel. ... This Vans Aircraft RV-7 displays the registration G-KELS. The G- prefix denotes that it is registered in the United Kingdom. ... Ben Gurion International Airport or Ben Gurion Airport (‎, Namal HaTeÅ«fa Ben GÅ«ryōn, Arabic: , maār Ben Ghuryon ad-dawlÄ«) (IATA: TLV, ICAO: LLBG), historically known as Lydda Airport and sometimes referred to today by its Hebrew acronym Natbag (‎), is the largest and busiest international airport in Israel. ... Schiphol (IATA: AMS, ICAO: EHAM) (municipality Haarlemmermeer) is the Netherlands main airport. ... For the regional airport in Wisconsin, see John F. Kennedy Memorial Airport. ... Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Categories: Airline stubs | Companies of Israel | Transportation in Israel | Airlines of Israel ... The Boeing 707 is an American four-engine commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. ... Tel-Aviv was founded on empty dunes north of the existing city of Jaffa. ... For other uses, see Amsterdam (disambiguation). ... Argüello in an undated photo The only hijacker killed in the Dawsons Field hijackings of 1970, Patrick Argüello had the distinction of being a Nicaraguan fighting alongside the Palestinian PFLP. // Youth Patrick was born in March 1943 to a Nicaraguan father and an American mother. ... Leila Khaled in the 1970s Leila Khaled (Arabic: ; born April 9, 1944) is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), part of the secular, leftwing Palestinian rejectionist front. ...

The original plan was to have four hijackers aboard this flight, but two were prevented from boarding in Amsterdam by Israeli security — these two conspirators, traveling under Senegalese passports with consecutive numbers,^[6] were prevented from flying on El Al on September 6. They purchased first-class tickets on Pan Am Flight 93 and hijacked this flight instead. is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Posing as a married couple, Argüello and Khaled boarded the plane using Honduran passports — having passed through a security check of their luggage — and were seated in the second row of tourist-class. Once the plane was approaching the British coast, they drew their guns and approached the cockpit, demanding entrance. According to Khaled, in an interview in 2000, Honduras is a country in northern Central America, bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the south west El Salvador, to the south east by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean and to the north by the Gulf of Honduras and the Caribbean Sea. ... For Microsoft Corporation’s “universal login” service, formerly known as Microsoft Passport Network, see Windows Live ID. For other types of travel document, see Travel document. ...

"So half an hour (after take off) we had to move. We stood up. I had my two hand grenades and I showed everybody I was taking the pins out with my teeth. Patrick stood up. We heard shooting just the same minute and when we crossed the first class, people were shouting but I didn't see who was shooting because it was behind us. So Patrick told me 'go forward I protect your back.' So I went and then he found a hostess and she was going to catch me round the legs. So I rushed, reached to the cockpit, it was closed. So I was screaming 'open the door.' Then the hostess came; she said 'she has two hand grenades,' but they did not open (the cockpit door) and suddenly I was threatening to blow up the plane. I was saying 'I will count and if you don't open I will blow up the plane.'"^[7]

After being informed by intercom that a hijacking was in progress, Captain Uri Bar Lev decided not to accede to their demands:

"I decided that we were not going to be hijacked. The security guy was sitting here ready to jump. I told him that I was going to put the plane into negative-G mode. Everyone would fall. When you put the plane into negative, it's like being in a falling elevator. Instead of the plane flying this way, it dives and everyone who is standing falls down."^[5]

Bar Lev put the plane into a steep nosedive which threw the two hijackers off-balance. Argüello reportedly threw his sole grenade down the airliner aisle, but it failed to explode, and he was hit over the head with a bottle of whiskey by a passenger after he drew his pistol. Arguello shot steward Shlomo Vider and according to the Israeli account, was then shot by a sky marshal.^[6] Khaled was beaten up by security and passengers, while the plane made an emergency landing at London Heathrow Airport; she claimed that Arguello was shot four times in the back after being beaten and bound. Vider underwent emergency surgery and recovered from his wounds, while Argüello died in the ambulance taking both him and Khaled to Hillingdon Hospital. Khaled was then arrested by the British government. Whisky (or whiskey) is an alcoholic beverage distilled from grain, often including malt, which has then been aged in wooden barrels. ... Flight attendant in an Embraer ERJ 145 LR of PBair, Thailand In aviation, flight attendants - formerly known as sky girls, stews, air hostesses, stewardesses or stewards - are members of a flight crew employed by airlines to ensure the safety and comfort of the passengers aboard commercial flights. ... An emergency landing is a non-planned landing made by an aircraft in response to a crisis. ... Heathrow redirects here. ... Hillingdon Hospital is an NHS hospital, located in Pield Heath Road, Uxbridge, Middlesex. ...

Nationalites on Flight 219

Nationality	Passengers	Crew	Total
Israel	118	10	128
Netherlands	10	0	10
United States	10	0	10
Total	138	10	148

Image File history File links Flag_of_Israel. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

TWA Flight 741

TWA Flight 741 (type Boeing 707, serial 18917/460, registration N8715T) was an around-the-world flight carrying 141 passengers and a crew of 10. The flight on this day was flying from Tel Aviv, Israel to Athens, Greece to Frankfurt, Germany and then to New York City and was hijacked on the Frankfurt-New York leg. In an interview for the film Hijacked, Flight 741's purser, Rudi Swinkles, recalled, "I saw a passenger running toward first class. I ran after him, and when he came to first class to the cockpit, he turned around, had a gun in his hand, and pointed the gun at me, and said, 'Get back, get back.' So right away, I dove behind the bulkhead first class divider, and I hid behind it, over here."^[8] is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Boeing 707 is an American four-engine commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. ... Trans World Airlines (IATA: TW, ICAO: TWA, and Callsign: TWA), commonly known as TWA, was an American airline company that was acquired by American Airlines in April 2001. ... This Vans Aircraft RV-7 displays the registration G-KELS. The G- prefix denotes that it is registered in the United Kingdom. ... Ellinikon International Airport (IATA: ATH, ICAO: LGAT), sometimes spelled Hellinikon (in Greek Ελληνικόν) was the international airport of Athens for sixty years up until 2001 when it was replaced by Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport. ... Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt Airport (IATA: FRA, ICAO: EDDF), known in German as Rhein-Main-Flughafen or Flughafen Frankfurt am Main, is located near Frankfurt am Main, Germany. ... For the regional airport in Wisconsin, see John F. Kennedy Memorial Airport. ... The Twa, also known as Batwa, are a pygmy people who were the oldest recorded inhabitants of the Great Lakes region of central Africa. ... The Boeing 707 is an American four-engine commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. ... Tel Aviv at night Dizengof Center Allenby Street Tel Aviv-Yafo (Hebrew תל אביב-יפו; Arabic تل ابيب-يافا Tal Abīb-Yāfā) is an Israeli city on the coast of the Mediterranean sea. ... For other uses, see Athens (disambiguation). ... Frankfurt am Main [ˈfraŋkfʊrt] is the largest city in the German state of Hessen and the fifth largest city of Germany. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... A ships purser, or just purser is the person on a ship responsible for the handling of money on board. ...

It landed at Dawson's Field in Jordan at 6:45 p.m. local time.^[9]

Hijackers gained control of the cockpit and stated, "This is your new captain speaking. This flight has been taken over by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. We will take you to a friendly country with friendly people."^[2]

Among the passengers was Yitzchok Hutner. Yitzchok (Isaac) Hutner (1906 - 1980) was an Orthodox rabbi born in Warsaw, Poland, to a family with both Ger Hasidim and non-Hasidic Lithuanian Jews in their origins. ...

Nationalites on Flight 741

Nationality	Passengers	Crew	Total
Germany	16	2	18
Greece	2	0	2
Israel	55	0	55
Italy	1	0	1
Netherlands	1	0	1
United Kingdom	18	0	18
United States	51	9	60
Total	144	10	154

Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Greece. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Israel. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

Swissair Flight 100

Swissair Flight 100 (type Douglas DC-8, registration HB-IDD, Nidwalden) was carrying 143 passengers and 12 crew from Zürich-Kloten Airport, Switzerland, to New York. It also landed at Dawson's Field. is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Douglas DC-8 is a four-engined jet airliner, manufactured between 1959 and 1972. ... Swissair (Swiss Air Transport Company Limited) was the former national airline of Switzerland. ... This Vans Aircraft RV-7 displays the registration G-KELS. The G- prefix denotes that it is registered in the United Kingdom. ... Arrivals Lounge Interior of airport terminal Zurich International Airport (IATA: ZRH, ICAO: LSZH) also called Kloten Airport, is located at 47°29′N 8°32′E in Kloten, canton of Zurich, Switzerland and managed by Unique Airport. ... For the regional airport in Wisconsin, see John F. Kennedy Memorial Airport. ... Swissair (Swiss Air Transport Company Limited) was the former national airline of Switzerland. ... The Douglas DC-8 is a four-engined jet airliner, manufactured between 1959 and 1972. ... Arrivals Lounge Interior of airport terminal Zurich International Airport (IATA: ZRH, ICAO: LSZH) also called Kloten Airport, is located at 47°29′N 8°32′E in Kloten, canton of Zurich, Switzerland and managed by Unique Airport. ...

Nationalities on Flight 100

Nationality	Passengers	Crew	Total
France	3	0	3
Germany	25	0	25
Israel	20	0	20
Switzerland	57	10	69
United States	26	0	26
Total	143	10	153

Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Israel. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Switzerland. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

Pan Am Flight 93

Pan American Flight 93 (type Boeing 747, serial 19656/34, registration N752PA, Clipper Fortune) was carrying 153 passengers and 17 crew. The flight was from Brussels, Belgium, to New York, with a stop in Amsterdam. The two hijackers bumped from the El Al flight boarded and hijacked this flight as a target of opportunity. is the 165th day of the year (166th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... The Boeing 747, sometimes nicknamed the Jumbo Jet,[4][5] is a long-haul, widebody commercial airliner manufactured by Boeing in the United States. ... Pan Ams seaplane terminal at Dinner Key in Miami, Florida, was a hub of inter-American travel during the 1930s and 1940s. ... This Vans Aircraft RV-7 displays the registration G-KELS. The G- prefix denotes that it is registered in the United Kingdom. ... For the airport in Charleroi, see Brussels South Charleroi Airport. ... Schiphol (IATA: AMS, ICAO: EHAM) (municipality Haarlemmermeer) is the Netherlands main airport. ... For the regional airport in Wisconsin, see John F. Kennedy Memorial Airport. ... Pan Ams seaplane terminal at Dinner Key in Miami, Florida, was a hub of inter-American travel during the 1930s and 1940s. ... The Boeing 747, sometimes nicknamed the Jumbo Jet,[4][5] is a long-haul, widebody commercial airliner manufactured by Boeing in the United States. ... For other places with the same name, see Brussels (disambiguation). ... Categories: Airline stubs | Companies of Israel | Transportation in Israel | Airlines of Israel ...

Flight Director John Feruggio recalled,

"We were ready for take off in Amsterdam, and the aircraft came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the runway. And Captain Priddy called me up into the cockpit and says, 'I'd like to have a word with you.' I went up to the cockpit, and he says, 'We have two passengers by the name of Diop and Gueye.' He says, 'Go down and try to find them in the manifest, because I would like to have a word with them.' ... So Captain Priddy sat them down at these two seats over here. He gave them a pretty good pat. They had a Styrofoam container in their groin area where they carried the grenade, and the 25-mm pistols. But this we found out much later."^[8]

The plane first landed in Beirut, where it refueled and picked up several associates of the hijackers, along with enough explosives to destroy the entire plane. It then landed in Cairo after uncertainty whether the Dawson's Field airport could handle the size of the new Boeing 747 jumbo jet. The plane was blown up at Cairo seconds after everybody deplaned. An audio transcript of Feruggio's landing instructions to passengers was recorded by one of them and can be heard in a National Public Radio report.[1] This article is about the Lebanese city. ... For other uses, see Cairo (disambiguation). ... NPR redirects here. ...

Nationalites on Flight 93

Nationality	Passengers	Crew	Total
Belgium	25	0	25
France	25	0	25
Germany	10	0	10
Netherlands	35	3	38
United Kingdom	2	0	2
United States	20	14	37
Total	136	17	153

Image File history File links Flag_of_Belgium_(civil). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

BOAC Flight 775

On September 9, a fifth plane, BOAC Flight 775, a VC-10 (registration G-ASGN), from Bombay to London via Bahrain and Beirut was hijacked after departing Bahrain and forcibly landed at Dawson's Field. This was the work of a PFLP sympathizer who wanted to influence the British government to free Leila Khaled. BOAC Logo The British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946. ... The VC-10 airliner was designed and built by Vickers (part of the British Aircraft Corporation) in the 1960s. ... This article or section should be merged with Mumbai Mumbai (previously known as Bombay) is the worlds most populous conurbation, and is the sixth most populous agglomeration in the world. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the Lebanese city. ... Leila Khaled in the 1970s Leila Khaled (Arabic: ; born April 9, 1944) is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), part of the secular, leftwing Palestinian rejectionist front. ...

Nationalites on Flight 775

Nationality	Passengers	Crew	Total
Albania	5	0	5
Denmark	15	0	15
France	25	0	25
Germany	5	0	5
United Kingdom	25	9	34
United States	21	0	21
Total	105	9	114

Image File history File links Flag_of_Albania. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Denmark. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ...

Days in the desert

On September 7, 1970, the hijackers held a press conference for 60 members of the media who had made their way to what was being called "Revolution Airport." About 125 hostages were transferred to Amman, while the American, Israeli, Swiss, and West German citizens were held on the planes.^[10] Jewish passengers were also held. Passenger Rivke Berkowitz of New York, interviewed in 2006, recalled "the hijackers went around asking people their religion, and I said I was Jewish." Another Jewish hostage, 16-year-old Barbara Mensch, was told she was "a political prisoner."^[2] is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other meanings, see Amman (disambiguation) and Ammann. ...

As groups of the remaining passengers and crew were assembled on the sand in front of the media, members of the PFLP, among them Bassam Abu Sharif, made statements to the press. Sharif claimed that the goal of the hijackings was "to gain the release of all of our political prisoners jailed in Israel in exchange for the hostages."^[8][11] Bassam Abu Sharif Bassam Abu Sharif (born 1946) is a former senior adviser to the late Yasser Arafat and press officer of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). ...

United States President Richard Nixon advised a direct military response to the hijackings.

In the United States, President Richard Nixon met with his advisors on September 8 and ordered United States Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird to bomb the PFLP positions in Jordan. Laird refused^{[citation needed]} on the pretext that the weather was unfavorable, and the idea was dropped. The 82nd Airborne Division was put on alert, the Sixth Fleet was put to sea, and military aircraft were sent to Turkey in preparation for a possible military strike.^[12] In contrast, British Prime Minister Edward Heath decided to negotiate with the hijackers, ultimately agreeing to release Khaled and others in exchange for hostages. This was bitterly opposed by the United States: Image File history File links Nixon_30-0316a. ... Image File history File links Nixon_30-0316a. ... For the pop band, see Presidents of the United States of America. ... Nixon redirects here. ... Nixon redirects here. ... is the 251st day of the year (252nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The United States Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) is the head of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), concerned with the armed services and military matters. ... Melvin Robert Laird (born September 1, 1922) was a Republican congressman from Wisconsin who served as Richard Nixons Secretary of Defense from 1969 to 1973. ... The 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army was formed originally as the 82nd Infantry Division on August 25, 1917, at Camp Gordon, Georgia. ... The Sixth Fleet is a US Navy operational unit, headquartered on the command ship La Salle (AGF-3) with its homeport in Gaeta, Italy and operating in the Mediterranean Sea. ... The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is, in practice, the political leader of the United Kingdom. ... Sir Edward Richard George Heath, KG, OBE (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 to 1975. ...

"Tensions between London and Washington are reflected in a bitterly acrimonious telephone conversation between top Foreign Office official Sir Denis Greenhill and senior White House aide Joseph Sisco... 'I think your government would want to weigh very, very carefully the kind of outcry that would occur in this country against your taking this kind of action.' Greenhill replied: 'Well, they do, Joe, but there is also an outcry in this country,' expressing concern that 'Israel won't lift a bloody finger and... our people get killed. You could imagine how bad that would look, and if it all comes out that we could have got our people out but for the obduracy of you and other people so to speak... I mean people say, why the bloody hell didn't you try?'"^[13]

On September 10, fighting between the PFLP and Jordanian forces erupted in Amman at the Intercontinental Hotel, where the 125 women and children were being kept by the PFLP, and the Kingdom appeared to be on the brink of full-scale civil war.^[8] The destruction of the aircraft on September 12 highlighted the impotence of the Jordanian government in Palestinian-controlled areas, and the Palestinians declared the city of Irbid to be "liberated territory," in a direct challenge to Hussein's rule. is the 253rd day of the year (254th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Irbid (Arabic: إربد), known in ancient times as Arabella, is a city in Jordan located about 70 km north of Amman on the northern ridge of the Gilead. ...

On September 13, the BBC World Service broadcast a government announcement in Arabic saying that the UK would release Khaled in exchange for the hostages.^[14] is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

According to United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, "At this point, whether because [American] readiness measures had given [King Hussein] a psychological lift or because he was reaching the point of desperation, Hussein resolved on an all-out confrontation with the fedayeen."^[15] Seal of the United States Department of State. ... Henry Alfred Kissinger (born Heinz Alfred Kissinger on May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, and 1973 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. ...

Complicating the international crisis was the fact that Syria and Iraq, client states of the USSR, had already threatened to intervene on behalf of Palestinian groups in any confrontation with the Kingdom of Jordan. In an astounding turn of events, according to British documents declassified under the "thirty year rule," an anxious King Hussein asked the U.S. and UK to pass a request to Israel to bomb Syrian troops if they entered Jordan in support of the Palestinians.^[14] When a Syrian tank crossed the border, Israeli aircraft overflew the area in warning. According to the notion of client states, just as a client of a corporation remains dependent on the corporation for a continued supply of products, and just as it is in the companys interest to make expendable products which need to be replaced regularly, client states of the two... State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Soviet republics Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km² Approx. ... The thirty year rule is the popular name given to a law in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Australia that states that the yearly cabinet papers of a government will be released publicly thirty years after they were created. ...

Resolution and consequences

King Hussein declared martial law on September 16 and initiated the military actions later known as the Black September conflict. Hostage David Raab described the Jordanian military actions: is the 259th day of the year (260th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Combatants PLO Jordan Commanders Yasser Arafat King Hussein Casualties 7,000-8,000 killed[1] This article, Black September in Jordan, describes the events surrounding September, 1970 in Jordan. ...

"We were in the middle of the shelling since Ashrafiyeh was among the Jordanian Army's primary targets. Electricity was cut off, and again we had little food or water. Friday afternoon, we heard the metal tracks of a tank clanking on the pavement. We were quickly herded into one room, and the guerrillas threw open the doors to make the building appear abandoned so it wouldn't attract fire. Suddenly, the shelling stopped."^[10]

About two weeks after the start of the crisis, the remaining hostages were recovered from locations around Amman and exchanged for Leila Khaled and several other PFLP prisoners. The hostages were flown to Cyprus and then to Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport, where on September 28 they met President Nixon, who was conducting a State visit to Italy and the Vatican.^[16] Speaking to reporters that day, Nixon noted he had told the released captives that For other uses, see Rome (disambiguation). ... Rome Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport (Italian: Aeroporto Leonardo da Vinci di Fiumicino) (IATA: FCO, ICAO: LIRF), also commonly known as Rome-Fiumicino International Airport, its former name, is Italys largest airport and second-largest international air gateway, with over 30 million passengers served in 2006, located in Fiumicino... is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

"[A]s a result of what they had been through... the possibility of reducing hijackings in the future had been substantially increased, because the international community was outraged by these incidents. Now we have not only mobilized guards on our planes, but we are developing facilities... for the purpose of seeing that people who might be potential hijackers do not get on planes with weapons or explosive material."^[17]

During the crisis, on September 11, President Nixon initiated a program to address the problem of "air piracy," including the immediate launch of a group of 100 federal agents to begin serving as armed air marshals on U.S. flights.^[6] Nixon's statement further indicated the U.S. departments of Defense and Transportation would determine whether X-ray devices then available to the military could be moved into civilian service.^[18] is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... In the NATO phonetic alphabet, X-ray represents the letter X. An X-ray picture (radiograph) taken by Röntgen An X-ray is a form of electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength approximately in the range of 5 pm to 10 nanometers (corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 PHz...

The PFLP officially disavowed the tactic of airline hijackings several years later, although several of its members and subgroups continued to hijack aircraft and commit other violent operations.^[19]

Documentary film

In 2006, Ilan Ziv described the Dawson's Field hijackings in Hijacked, an hour-long episode of PBS's program American Experience, which he wrote and directed and which originally aired on February 26, 2006. Ziv included archival footage of the events and interviewed hijackers, hostages, members of the media, and politicians. Note: Public Broadcasting Services is a broadcaster in Malta. ... American Experience (sometimes abbreviated AmEx) is a television program airing on the PBS network in the United States. ... is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 125th day of the year (126th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles is a community non-profit weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of Greater Los Angeles. ... Los Angeles and L.A. redirect here. ... ISSN, or International Standard Serial Number, is the unique eight-digit number applied to a periodical publication including electronic serials. ... The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) was founded in 1967 and originally named the Ohio College Library Center. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... BBC News is the department within the BBC responsible for the corporations news-gathering and production of news programmes on BBC television, radio and online. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Note: Public Broadcasting Services is a broadcaster in Malta. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Note: Public Broadcasting Services is a broadcaster in Malta. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 122nd day of the year (123rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 122nd day of the year (123rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Note: Public Broadcasting Services is a broadcaster in Malta. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The May 16, 1948 Palestine Post headline announcing the creation of the state of Israel The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English language broadsheet newspaper, originally founded on December 1, 1932, by American journalist-turned-newspaper-editor Gershon Agron as the The Palestine Post. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 122nd day of the year (123rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 122nd day of the year (123rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 125th day of the year (126th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 125th day of the year (126th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 125th day of the year (126th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The domain name bbc. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Black September in Jordan
• Patrick Arguello
• Leila Khaled
• PFLP
• Sky marshal

Combatants PLO Jordan Commanders Yasser Arafat King Hussein Casualties 7,000-8,000 killed[1] This article, Black September in Jordan, describes the events surrounding September, 1970 in Jordan. ... Argüello in an undated photo The only hijacker killed in the Dawsons Field hijackings of 1970, Patrick Argüello had the distinction of being a Nicaraguan fighting alongside the Palestinian PFLP. // Youth Patrick was born in March 1943 to a Nicaraguan father and an American mother. ... Leila Khaled in the 1970s Leila Khaled (Arabic: ; born April 9, 1944) is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), part of the secular, leftwing Palestinian rejectionist front. ... The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) (Arabic Al-Jabhah al-Shabiyyah Li-Tahrir Filastin الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين) is a secular, Marxist-Leninist, nationalist Palestinian organization, founded after the Six-Day War in 1967. ... Sky marshal (also known as air marshal or flight marshal) is a popular term for an undercover armed guard on board a commercial aircraft, to counter aircraft hijackings (skyjackings). Many carriers are known to have sky marshals on board on selected flights, for example, Swiss (since 1970; formerly Swissair), El...

External links

• Website of Hijacked, Ilan Ziv's hour-long episode of PBS's The American Experience, originally aired February 26, 2006.
• Hijacked at the Internet Movie Database
• BBC story on secret documents on this affair released after 30 years
• Aviation Security interview with Leila Khaled
• Terror in Black September website
• Bassam Abu Sharif's website with pictures of hijacked planes
• Time Magazine Cover, September 21, 1970 "Pirates in the Sky"
• BBC report from Amman, September 1970
• Walter Cronkite's recollections, audio program at NPR

Note: Public Broadcasting Services is a broadcaster in Malta. ... is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ... Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. ...

Further reading

• Arey, James A. The Sky Pirates. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1972.
• Carlton, David. The West's Road to 9/11. Resisting, Appeasing and Encouraging Terrorism since 1970. Palgrave Macmillan. April 3, 2006. ISBN 1-4039-9608-3 Cites the Western capitulation to the Dawson's field hijackings as the rise of modern terrorism.
• Phillips, David. Skyjack: The Story of Air Piracy. London: George G. Harrap, 1973.
• Raab, David. Terror in Black September: The First Eyewitness Account of the Infamous 1970 Hijackings. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. ISBN 1-4039-8420-4.
• Snow, Peter, and David Phillips. The Arab Hijack War: The True Story of 25 Days in September, 1970. New York: Ballantine Books, 1971.