EgyptAir Flight 321 was a
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
-
Luxor
Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''.
Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
ian flight which was hijacked by three armed
terrorists
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
claiming to be from the
Abd Al-Nasir Movement. After hijacking the aircraft, the terrorists demanded to be flown to
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
. The terrorists agreed to land in
Luxor
Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''.
Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...
instead, after being persuaded that the aircraft needed to be refuelled. In Luxor,
Sa'ka Forces
, image = Sa'ka Forces logo.png
, caption =
, dates = 1956-present
, country =
, allegiance =
, command_structure ...
stormed the aircraft and captured the hijackers. No passengers were injured during the operation. The terrorists were convicted and sentenced to hard labor for life.
Background
On August 23, 1976, three armed terrorists claiming to be from the
Abd Al-Nasir Movement hijacked the Egyptian Cairo-Luxor flight and asked the pilot to land in
Tripoli. One of the three hijackers was a 21-year-old Palestinian, Mohammed Naguid, who was working in Kuwait.
They demanded the release of five Libyans imprisoned in Cairo in connection with two assassination attempts.
The context was the deterioration of relations between
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
and
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
after the
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...
due to Libyan opposition to Sadat's peace policy. There had been a breakdown in unification talks between the two governments, which subsequently led to the
Libyan-Egyptian War. Fifteen minutes after takeoff from
Cairo International Airport, an Italian pilot called the airport to report that he had received a beam aerial from the Egyptian aircraft heading to Luxor that it had been hijacked and the flight was under terrorist control.
The operation
President
Sadat ordered the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense to make the necessary decisions to protect the passengers and arrest the terrorists. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense quickly flew to
Luxor International Airport where they started a secret meeting in the airport's tower, while
Major General
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...
Abdul Hafiz Al-Bagori, Governor of
Qena
Qena ( ar, قنا ' , locally: ; cop, ⲕⲱⲛⲏ ''Konē'') is a city in Upper Egypt, and the capital of the Qena Governorate. Situated on the east bank of the Nile, it was known in antiquity as Kaine (Greek Καινή, meaning "new (city)"; ...
started negotiations with the three terrorists in order to gain time. In a call between the cockpit and the airport, the pilot complained about a problem in the aircraft - that it hadn't shown that the aircraft needing refuelling - and that the aircraft needed maintenance. The terrorists were persuaded to allow the aircraft to land in Luxor for refuelling.
Negotiations continued until 3 p.m., when the governor told the terrorists that engineers were ready. The engineers were two disguised Sa'ka Officers, who went inside and outside the aircraft several times in order to appear to be maintenance workers. Minutes later three officers stormed the aircraft and captured the hijackers.
The on-site commander of the Egyptian commandos was Colonel Sayed El Sharkawy. He and the other commandos have received the Star of Honor medal from President Sadat following the successful operation.
Aftermath
The 95 passengers, mostly tourists, and 6 crew members were all rescued unharmed.
During investigations the hijackers said they had received directions from Libya, that had the operation succeeded they would have received a $250,000 reward from
Muammar Gaddafi,
and that they had already received 1/5th of this reward.
The Palestinian Revolution Movement also claimed credit for the hijacking.
Reactions
* - The
Palestine Liberation Organization condemned the hijacking and stressed that it was not related to actions intended to harm the Palestinian struggle.
* - Sudanese president
Gaafar Nimeiry
Jaafar Muhammad an-Nimeiry (otherwise spelled in English as Jaafar Nimeiry, Gaafar Nimeiry or Ja'far Muhammad Numayri; ar, جعفر محمد النميري; 26 April 192830 May 2009) was a Sudanese politician who served as the president of Sud ...
called Egyptian president Sadat to congratulate him in the name of the Sudanese people for the success of the Egyptian Special Forces in rescuing the passengers.
See also
*
List of aircraft hijackings
*
EgyptAir Flight 181
EgyptAir Flight 181 was a domestic passenger flight from Borg El Arab Airport in Alexandria, Egypt, to Cairo International Airport. On 29 March 2016 the flight was hijacked by an Egyptian man claiming to wear an explosive belt and forced to div ...
- EgyptAir flight hijacked in 2016
*
EgyptAir Flight 648
EgyptAir Flight 648 was a regularly scheduled international flight between Athens Ellinikon International Airport (Greece) and Cairo International Airport (Egypt). On 23 November 1985, a Boeing 737-200 airliner, registered SU-AYH, servicing the ...
- EgyptAir flight hijacked in 1985
References
*
Al-Ahram Newspaper (August 24, 1976 Issue)
{{coord missing, Egypt
1976 in Egypt
Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 737 Original
Aircraft hijackings
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1976
Aviation accidents and incidents in Egypt
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