Plane Hijacking: Trans World Airlines Flight 847 was to take off from Cairo that day and reach San Diego via Athens, Rome, Boston and Los Angeles. This flight took off on its scheduled time with about 145 passengers and 8 crew members. This flight completed the journey from Cairo to Athens without any problem. In Athens, the new crew entered the flight along with some passengers and the flight took off for its next destination Rome.

Till this incident of June 14, 1985, everything was fine. But, after takeoff from Rome, as soon as the plane reached a certain altitude, two men stood up from their seats and moved towards the cockpit. Both of them were the same people who had boarded the plane from Athens and had managed to bring a pistol-hand grenade with them. When flight service manager Uli Derickson tried to stop both of them, they beat him badly and forcibly entered the cockpit.

As soon as they entered the cockpit, both of them attacked Captain John Testrek, First Officer Phil Maresca and Flight Engineer Christian Zimmerman. All three were beaten with the butt of the pistol. One of the attackers put the tip of his pistol on Captain Testrek’s head and talked about hijacking the plane. He identified himself as Hezbollah fighter Mohammad Ali Hammadi. Also, he ordered the plane to be taken to the Middle East instead of Rome.

1. The pilot had no choice but to take the plane towards the Middle East instead of Rome. Therefore, he turned the plane towards Beirut International Airport in Lebanon.
2. After flying for some time, the plane came under the control of Lebanon Air Traffic Control. The pilot asked for permission to land from the ATC of Beirut airport, but they flatly refused.
3. There was a long debate between Captain Testrek and ATC regarding landing permission, he did not want to allow the hijacked plane to land at his airport.
4. Finally, Captain Testrek told the ATC that the hijackers were ready to remove the pin of the hand grenade. If the matter is not agreed to, they will blow up the entire plane with bombs.
5. Captain Testrek told ATC – I repeat, we will have to land in Beirut only. We will have to land in Beirut itself. There is no other option.
6. Eventually Beirut ATC agreed to allow landing. The plane landed at Beirut International Airport in Lebanon at around 11:55 am.

Got fuel for the plane in exchange for 19 lives

This plane of Trans World Airlines stopped for several hours at Beirut airport. Meanwhile, the hijackers did not talk about their demands. After a long wait, the hijackers demanded fuel for the plane, which was rejected by the Beirut Airport Administration. After long negotiations, it was decided that the hijackers would release 19 passengers in exchange for fuel. The plane was refueled with the release of 19 passengers. After this, this hijacked plane took off from Beirut Airport at around 1:30 pm.

Hijackers reached Algeria and presented their demands

As soon as takeoff took place from Beirut, the hijackers ordered the plane to be taken to Algiers International Airport in Algeria. In this flight of about two hours, the plane crossed the Mediterranean Sea and landed at Algiers International Airport at around 3:30 pm. After waiting for about five hours, the hijackers revealed their demand. It was not easy for America and Israel to accept these demands.

What were the demands of the plane hijackers?

1. The ‘Kuwait 17’ group that carried out the bomb blasts at the US Embassy in Kuwait in 1983 should be released.
2. 766 Shia Muslims imprisoned in Israel’s Atlit prison should be released.
3. There should be immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces present in Southern Lebanon.
4. Israel and the United States should be condemned at the international level.

The plane took off again with 115 people on board

Despite a long wait, when the hijackers did not get any response to their demand, they decided to take off the plane from Algiers International Airport. However, for this he once again needed fuel. This time talks were held on the release of 21 passengers in exchange for fuel. The plane was refueled with the release of 21 passengers. After which the plane took off with 115 people at around 8:25 pm. The 115 people on board the plane included 105 passengers, 8 crew members and 2 hijackers.

Islamic militia captured Beirut airport

At that time, Lebanon was also going through a civil war. By now Beirut was completely under the control of Shia Amal militia and Hezbollah. Since Beirut International Airport was surrounded by the sea on one side and Shia areas on the other, it did not have parameter security. Additionally, it was possible to drive directly to the runway from the residential area. Taking advantage of these loopholes, the Islamic militia completely captured the airport.

Hijackers reached Beirut again and started their brutality.

1. The hijacked plane once again landed at Beirut International Airport at around 2:20 in the morning.
2. As soon as they reached Beirut airport, the hijackers started beating all the military passengers brutally.
3. The hijackers first brutally beat Robert Statham of the US Navy and then shot him in the temple.
4. After the murder of Robert Staton, his body was thrown on the tarmac and then he was shot again.
5. After this, seven American passengers whose surnames sounded like Jews were taken off the plane and imprisoned in a Shia prison in Beirut.
6. 12 other terrorists boarded the plane at Beirut airport and the plane took off again from Beirut at around 5:40 in the morning.

…and the hijackers released three passengers

At 7:50 in the morning the hijacked plane once again reached Algiers International Airport. There were now a total of 119 people in this plane reaching Algiers airport. These included 97 passengers, 8 crew members and 14 terrorists. The plane stopped in Algiers for the next 25 hours. In the events of these 25 hours, the hijackers first released three other passengers from the plane. After this, Algerian officials entered the plane to negotiate with the hijackers.

Greek government releases one of the hijackers’ accomplices

The Greek government released Ali Atwa, an accomplice of the hijackers. Ali Atwa was brought to Algiers airport by special flight. After reaching Algiers, he was handed over to other hijackers present on the plane. In return the hijackers released eight Greek citizens, including popular Greek singer Demis Roussos. These people were then flown back from Algiers to Athens on a business jet of the Greek government.

Did the talks between Algerian officials and hijackers yield any results?
The talks that started between Algerian officials and hijackers could not reach any final result. However, during this conversation the hijackers agreed to release 58 hostages. These included 53 passengers and 5 female cabin crew members. All these 58 people were released before leaving from Algiers airport.

Where did this plane go after takeoff from Algiers airport and how many passengers were left in it?
On the third day, i.e. 16 June 1985, the plane left Algiers Airport at around 8:45 am. Now there were a total of 54 people in this plane. It included 36 passengers, 3 crew members and 15 terrorists. After landing, the remaining 36 passengers and three crew members were taken off the plane and taken to a Shia prison in Beirut. The seven American passengers who were brought there a day earlier were also imprisoned in this jail.

For how many days did this hijacking last and what was the end result?
Nabih Berri, head of the Amal militia and justice minister in Lebanon’s broken cabinet, initiated negotiations on behalf of the hijackers. The last 45 hostages were also released on June 30, following the intervention of US President Ronald Reagan and Lebanese officials. Along with this, Lebanese prisoners imprisoned in Israeli jails were also released. This incident of hijacking, which started on June 14, continued for a total of 17 days.

Did Israel agree to the hijackers’ demand and release 700 Shia prisoners in its prison?
After the release, the passengers were taken to West Germany in a US Air Force C-141B Starlifter cargo plane. Where US Vice President George HW Bush met everyone. After this, he was taken to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, where President Reagan welcomed him home. After this incident, Israel released more than 700 Shia prisoners.