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| TWA B727 flight 847 from Athens to Rome |
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| Pilot John Testrake and Terrorist in the window of the 727 |
After the hijacking, the plane deviates from course to fly towards Lebanon, requesting permission to land in Beirut. When denied landing permission, pilot John Testrake said, “He has pulled a hand-grenade pin and is ready to blow up the aircraft if he has to. We must, I repeat, we must land at Beirut. We must land at Beirut. No alternative!” The air traffic controller relented, and flight TWA 847 landed in Beirut. There, 19 American women and children were released in exchange for fuel, then the plane took off to Algeria to release 22 more people, and took off back to Beirut again.
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| Robert D. Stethem |
Upon landing in Beirut for the second time, the Beirut International Airport refused to give fuel to the hijacked airplane. Upon hearing this, the terrorists singled out Robert D. Stethem, an American Navy diver. They brutally beat Stethem and breaking every bone in his body, urging him to speak into the mike to beg for fuel for the airplane: Stethem remained silent. The terrorists proceeded to shoot him in the head and dumped his body onto the tarmac. A flight attendant had to pay to fuel the airplane with her personal credit card. The terrorists singled out 7 American passengers with Jewish-sounding surnames, were led off the plane and sequestered in Beirut, while two dozen Hezbollah terrorists boarded the plane. The plane took off back to Algiers, where 60 more passengers were released in exchange for the freedom of a Hezbollah accomplice in Athens. The plane flew back and landed in Beirut for the third time. The remaining passengers were taken off the plane and held hostage throughout Beirut.
The Amal and Hezbollah organizations demanded the release of 700 Shia prisoners held in Israel in exchange for the hostages. This was resolved over several complicated political maneuvers. The United States did not want to concede to the Amal’s demands, and refused to ask Israel to release the prisoners, but would support their decision if they released them. Israel did not want to negotiate with the terrorists at all, and refusing to release any prisoners until the United States asks them to. The hostages were eventually freed on June 30th, and the Israel government released the 700 Shia prisoners over time, however they denied that the release was connected to the hijacking.
Sources:
https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/hijacking-of-twa-flight-847
https://apnews.com/b6e8f5e3dc8a5fa7d353f0a316fed86e
http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-8105.html
https://www.askthepilot.com/twa-847/
https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/15/world/he-s-pulled-a-grenade-pin.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C66qyCEL_Hs
https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2019/09/800px-Trans_World_727-231-1024x640.jpg
https://www.askthepilot.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/TWA-847-Small.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/SW2_Robert_Stethem.jpg
I'm shocked that something like this could even happen. After reading this. I wondered how the higher government forces were completely powerless against just a few men hijacking the plane. It really shows that this is completely capable of happening today. And if just a couple actions go the hijackers way, many people could die. But the United States as of recent have done a good job keeping actions like this from happening. There haven't been any hijackings since 9/11.
ReplyDeleteWow I did not know how serious this hijacking was. It really goes to show how easy it was back then to hijack planes and make governments sort of powerless to do anything to protect their citizens. It also shows how far people would go to fight and push for their goals. In a five-year period 1968–1972 the world experienced 326 hijack attempts, or one every 5.6 days. That is a terrifying statistic but thankfully there are extensive safety measures inside airports that minimize the odds of a hijack.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_hijacking#American_Airlines_Flight_11