Palestinian Hijackers Seize Three Aircraft in Coordinated Operation
PFLP guerrillas hijack multiple international flights to Jordan, demanding prisoner releases and drawing world attention to Palestinian cause.
AMMAN - Palestinian guerrillas executed an unprecedented coordinated hijacking operation today, seizing three international aircraft and diverting them to a remote desert airstrip in Jordan, with over 300 passengers held hostage.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for hijacking a TWA Boeing 707, a Swissair DC-8, and attempting to seize an El Al flight. A fourth aircraft, a Pan Am 747, was hijacked and flown to Cairo where it was blown up after passengers were evacuated.
The successful hijackers forced their planes to land at Dawson’s Field, a former RAF base in Jordan’s desert, which the PFLP has renamed “Revolution Airport.” The guerrillas demand the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israel, Switzerland, West Germany, and Britain.
“We will teach the world that Palestinians are not refugees to be ignored,” declared PFLP spokesman Ghassan Kanafani. “These operations show our reach extends everywhere.”
The El Al hijacking attempt failed when sky marshals killed one hijacker and captured Leila Khaled, a Palestinian woman who had successfully hijacked a plane last year. The aircraft made an emergency landing in London.
Passengers describe terrifying ordeals, with hijackers separating Israeli citizens and Jews for potential execution. “They held grenades and threatened to blow up the planes,” reported released passenger David Raab.
The mass hijacking creates a crisis for Jordan’s King Hussein, whose country has become an unwilling stage for Palestinian operations. The kingdom hosts hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees and armed guerrillas who increasingly challenge royal authority.
Israel maintains its policy of no negotiations with terrorists, while European governments scramble to secure their citizens’ release. The United States has dispatched military units to the Mediterranean.
The spectacular operation achieves the PFLP’s goal of focusing international attention on the Palestinian cause, though at the cost of associating Palestinians with terrorism in global public opinion.
“This is a turning point,” warned a senior Jordanian official. “Either the government establishes control or the fedayeen take over Jordan.”