Aircraft hijacking

Aircraft hijacking (also known as skyjacking and aircraft piracy) is the take-over of an aircraft, by a person or group, usually armed. In most cases the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers.

Alternatively one of the hijackers acts as pilot him- or herself. The latter was the case in the September 11, 2001 attacks; hijackers took flying lessons as preparation, and/or were selected by al-Quaeda based partly on flying skills.

In one case the official pilot hijacked the plane: in October, 1998, on an Air China flight from Beijing to Kunming in Yunnan, he flew to Taiwan after threatening to crash the plane killing the passengers if the other members of the crew prevented him from flying to Taiwan.

Unlike the hijacking of land vehicles, skyjacking is usually not perpetrated in order to rob the cargo. Rather, most aircraft hijackings are committed to use the passengers as hostages in an effort to obtain transportation to a given location, to hold them for ransom, or, as in the case of the American planes that were hijacked to Cuba during the 1970s, the release of comrades being held in prison. Another common motive is publicity for some cause or grievance. Since the use of hijacked planes as suicide missiles in September 11, 2001 attacks, hijacking is a different kind of security threat — though similar usages had apparently been attempted by Samuel Byck in 1974 and on Air France Flight 8969 in 1994.

One task of airport security is to prevent hijacks by screening passengers and keeping anything that could be used as a weapon (even smaller objects like nail clippers and boxcutters, for example) off aircraft.

Background

Hijackings for hostages have usually followed a pattern of negotiations between the hijackers and the authorities, followed by some form of settlement -- not always the meeting of the hijackers' original demands -- or the storming of the aircraft by armed police or special forces to rescue the hostages. Previous to September, 2001, the policy of most airlines was for the pilot to comply with hijackers' demands in the hope of a peaceful outcome. Since then, policies have reversed course, in favor of arming and armoring the cockpit.

The first recorded aircraft hijack was on February 21, 1931, in Arequipa, Peru. Byron Rickards flying a Ford Tri-motor was approached on the ground by armed revolutionaries. He refused to fly them anywhere and after a ten day stand-off Rickards was informed that the revolution was successful and he could go in return for giving one of their number a lift to Lima. Most hijackings have not been so farcical. The first hijack of a commercial airliner probably happened on June 16, 1948, when a failed attempt to gain control of the Miss Macao, a Cathay Pacific seaplane caused it to crash into the sea off Macau. On June 30 1948, a Bulgarian commercial Junkers plane was successfully hijacked to Istanbul by a discharged diplomat and his family, who had to shoot dead the co-pilot (who happened to be the head of Bulgaria's civil aviation) and the radio operator in order to escape to the West. On September 12 1948 a Greek T.A.E Airlines plane was successfully hijacked by 6 pro-communist students who wanted passage to Yugoslavia. The plane landed near Skopje and returned to Thessaloniki later that evening.

Since 1947, 60% of hijackings have been refugee escapes. In 1968-69 there was a massive rise in the number of hijackings. In 1968 there were 27 hijackings and attempted hijackings to Cuba. In 1969 there were 82 recorded hijack attempts worldwide, more than twice the total attempts for the whole period 1947-67. Most were Palestinians using hijacks as a political weapon to publicise their cause and to force the Israeli government to release Palestinian prisoners from jail.

Airliner hijackings have declined since the peak of 385 incidents between 1967-76. In 1977-86 the total had dropped to 300 incidents and in 1987-96 this figure was reduced to 212.

List of well-known hijackings

1958: First Cuba-to-U.S. hijacking
1960: The first US-to-Cuba hijacking
1968: The first Arab-Israeli hijacking, as three members of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijack an El Al plane to Rome. Diverting to Algiers the negotiations extend over forty days. Both the hijackers and the hostages go free. This was the first and the only successful hijacking of an El Al flight.
1970 May 15: Dymshits-Kuznetsov hijacking affair, a group of Soviet refuseniks attempt to hijack aircraft
1970, September: As part of the Dawson's Field hijackings, PFLP members attempt to hijack four aircraft simultaneously. They succeed on three and force the planes to fly to the Jordanian desert, where the hijackers blow up the aircraft after releasing most of the hostages. The final hostages are freed in exchange for seven Palestinian prisoners. The fourth attack on an El Al plane by two people including Leila Khalid is foiled by armed guards aboard.
1971: D. B. Cooper hijacks Northwest Orient Airlines flight 305 and obtains $200,000 ransom for the release of the plane's passengers. Cooper proceeds to parachute from the rear of the Boeing 727 and is never found.
1972 November 15: First airline hijacking in Australia. A lone hijacker armed with a .22 sawn-off rifle and a knife in flight on Ansett Airlines flight 232 from Adelaide to Alice Springs with 28 passengers and a crew of 4. Followed by gun battle at Alice Springs Airport resulting in the death of the hijacker Miloslav Hrabinec and a police officer critically wounded.
1974 February 22: Samuel Byck shot and killed Maryland Aviation Administration Police Officer Neal Ramsburg at BWI before storming aboard Delta Air Lines flight 523 to Atlanta. He gained access to the cockpit while the plane was on the ground, intending to assassinate President Nixon by flying the DC-9 into the White House. He shot both the pilot and the copilot before he was shot through the aircraft window by another officer.
1976: The Palestinian hijack of Air France Flight 139 is brought to an end at Entebbe Airport, Uganda by Operation Entebbe: Israeli commandos assault the building holding the hijackers and hostages killing all Palestinian hijackers and rescuing 105 persons, mostly Israeli hostages; three passengers and one commando are killed.
1977: A Palestinian hijack of a Lufthansa airliner Landshut during its flight from Palma de Mallorca to Frankfurt is ended in Mogadishu when German commandos storm the plane. Three hijackers are killed and 86 hostages are freed. The hand of German Red Army Faction is suspected. The pilot is killed.
1977 December 4: A Boeing 737 Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 was hijacked and crashed in Tanjung Kupang, Johore killing 100 people aboard.
1978: Two Arab guerrillas seized a plane in Cyprus. Egyptian commandos flew in uninvited to try to take the plane. Cypriot troops resisted and 15 Egyptians died in a 45-minute battle.
1979: Two East Germans hijacked an aircraft to West Berlin; see Judgment in Berlin.
1979 June 20 and June 21: An American Airlines flight from New York to Chicago was hijacked by a Serbian Nationalist demanding the release of a jailed fellow nationalist. Unable to secure his comrade's release, the hijacker released all hostages except for the pilot, co-pilot and one flight attendant. They flew from Chicago back to New York where he transferred to a Boeing 707, which flew to Ireland where the hijacker surrendered and was returned to the United States for trial. Weapon used was a home-made bomb. There were no casualties.
1981: A Pakistan International Airlines jet is hijacked and taken to Kabul, where one passenger is killed before the plane flies on to Damascus; the hostages are finally released after 13 days when the Pakistani Government agrees to free fifty political prisoners.
1981: The Hijacking of Flight Garuda Indonesia GA 206 on 28 March 1981. This was the first serious Indonesian airline hijacking, since the first case was a desperate Marine hijacker who was killed by the pilot himself. The hijackers, a group called Commando Jihad, hijacked the DC 9 "Woyla", onroute from Palembang to Medan, and ordered the pilot to fly the plane to Colombo, Sri Lanka. But since the plane didn't have enough fuel, it refueled in Penang, Malaysia and then to Don Muang, Thailand. The hijackers demanded the release of Commando Jihad members imprisoned in Indonesia, and US $ 1.5 million, as well as a plane to take those prisoners to an unspecified destination. The Kopassus commandos who took part in this mission trained for only three days with totally unfamiliar weapons, brilliantly executed this fast-paced operation. One of the Kopassus commandos was shot by the hijacker leader, who then shot himself. All the other hijackers were killed. All the hostages were saved.
1982 July 1: A Sri Lankan gentleman, identified as Sepala Ekanayaka, who is 33 years old, hijacked an Alitalia jumbo jet in order to return to Sri Lanka with his wife and child.
1982 August 22: A lone Sikh militant, armed with a pistol and a hand grenade, hijacked a Boeing 737 on a scheduled flight from Bombay to New Delhi carrying 69 persons. Indian security forces killed the hijacker and rescued all passengers.
1983: Tbilisi hijacking incident
1984 August 24: Seven young Sikh hijackers demanded an Indian Airlines jetliner on a domestic flight be flown to the United States. The plane was taken to UAE where the defense minister of UAE negotiated the release of the passengers. It was related to the Sikh secessionist struggle in the Indian state of Punjab.
1984: Lebanese Shi'a hijackers divert a Kuwait Airways flight to Tehran. The plane is taken by Iranian security forces who were dressed as custodial staff.^*
1985: Lebanese Shi'a hijackers divert TWA Flight 847 from Athens to Beirut with 153 people on board. The stand-off ends after Israel frees 31 Lebanese prisoners.
1985: Palestinians take over EgyptAir Flight 648 and fly it to Malta. All together, 60 people died, most of them when Egyptian commandos stormed the aircraft.
1986: 22 people are killed when Pakistani security forces storm Pan Am Flight 73 at Karachi, carrying 400 passengers and crew after a 16-hour siege.
1990: Hijackers seized a plane from the People's Republic of China which later crashed as it tried to land in Canton, killing 128 people.
1991: 26 March 1991, Singapore Airlines Flight 117 hijacked by hijackers claiming to be members of the Pakistan People's Party. Elite Singapore Special Operations Force members stormed the plane, killing all four hijackers and freeing all 118 passengers and 9 crew in an operation lasting just 30 seconds. None of the passengers and crew were hurt.
1994: FedEx Flight 705 hijacked by disgruntled employee Auburn Calloway as it left Memphis, Tennessee, with the intention of using it as a cruise missile against FedEx HQ. He was subdued by the flight crew before an emergency landing back at Memphis.
1994: Air France Flight 8969 is hijacked by four GIA terrorists planning to crash into the Eiffel Tower. After the execution of 3 passangers, GIGN commandos storm the plane killing all hijackers and freeing all passengers.
1995: Iranian defector and flight attendant Rida Garari hijacked Kish Air flight 707, which landed in Israel. No casualties.
1996: Hemus Air Tu-154 aircraft was hijacked by the Palestinian Nadir Abdallah, flying from Beirut to Varna. The hijacker demamded that the airplane be refuelled and given passage to Oslo (Norway) after landing at Varna Airport. All of the 150 passengers were freed at Varna, while the crue continue the flight to Oslo.
1996: Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 crashed into the Indian Ocean near a beach in the Comoros Islands after hijackers refused to allow the pilot to land and refuel the plane. 125 passengers die and 50 survive. This is only the third incident in which there were survivors of a passenger jet that intentionally ditched into water.
1997: Air Malta Two men who hijacked an Air Malta aircraft en route from Malta to Turkey on June 9, 1997 surrendered to police at Cologne's airport early on the same day and freed without incident about 80 crew members and passengers on board.
1999: All Nippon Airways Flight 61 is hijacked by a lone man. He kills the pilot before he is subdued.
2000: Ariana Afghan Airlines Boeing 727 is hijacked on an internal flight within Taleban-controlled Afghanistan, and ended up at London Stansted Airport, where most of the passengers claimed political asylum.
1999-2000: Kashmiri men hijack Indian Airlines Flight 814 and divert it to Kandahar. After a week-long stand-off India agrees to release three jailed Kashmiri rebels in exchange for the hostages. 1 hostage was stabbed to death and his body thrown on the tarmac as a "warning attack"
2001: September 11 attacks, eastern USA: 19 terrorists hijack four planes (American Airlines Flight 11, American Airlines Flight 77, United Airlines Flight 93, and United Airlines Flight 175. The aircraft were used as missiles to cause infastructure damage; two of the planes, United Airlines Flight 175 and Flight 11 were crashed into New York City's World Trade Center towers, destroying the entire complex. American Airlines Flight 77 was used in a similar fashion at the Pentagon, in Washington, D.C., which caused the destruction of the portion of that building hit. They are the three most deadly of all aircraft hijackings. In the case of United 93 the intention was likely the same but the passengers, learning of the fate of the other three planes, attacked the cockpit, causing the hijackers to crash the plane in rural Pennsylvania, killing all on board. Four other planes were supposedly supposed to fly into other parts of the Pentagon, the Capitol Building, and a museum. However, they were stopped before flight. By official count, 2,752 people died at the World Trade Center, 189 died in Washington, D.C., and 44 died crashing into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Prevention

There has been talk of fortifying cockpit doors to prevent would-be hijackers from entering and gaining control of the aircraft. In the United Kingdom, United States and Australia, air marshals have also been added to some flights to deter and thwart hijackers. In addition, some have proposed remote control systems for aircraft whereby no one on board would have control over the plane's flight.

In the case of a serious risk that an aircraft will be used for flying into a target, it may have to be shot down, killing all passengers and crew, to prevent more serious consequences.

United States commercial aircraft pilots now have an option of carrying a pistol on the flight deck, as a last resort to thwart hijack attempts. Opponents proposed that shooting down the aircraft and killing everyone onboard would be more reasonable than a pilot firing a pistol in an airliner at a flight deck intruder. Explosive decompression in an aircraft, however, is a myth, and their objections are mostly hyperbole. ^*

Since "Hi, Jack" and "hijack" are homophones this pronunciation is now widely regarded as a serious taboo in many airports. Los Angeles International Airport has reminded people not to say "Hi, Jack" or "Hey, Jack", but rather, to say "Hello, Jack" instead.

Situation after September 11th

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the situation for passengers and hijackers has changed. Before the attacks, the passengers were advised to sit quietly in order to increase their chances to survive. As in the situation of United Airlines Flight 93, where an airliner crashed into a field during a fight between passengers and hijackers, passengers have to calculate the risks. Future hijackers may encounter greater resistance from passengers, making a hijacking more unlikely, but if they happen, bloodier.

Several nations have stated that they would shoot down hijacked commercial aircraft if it can be assumed that the hijackers intend to use the aircraft in a 9/11-style as a weapon, despite killing innocent passengers onboard. According to reports, US fighter pilots have been training shooting down commercial airliners.Other countries such as Poland have enacted laws or decrees that allow shooting down hijacked aircraft.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4172487.stm

Germany: Shooting down aircraft and the constitution

In a widely regarded decision by the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, in February 2006, it struck down a law - "Luftsicherheitsgesetz" or "Air security law" - permitting such preventive measures as unconstitutional because both passengers and aircrew have already lost their self-determination to the terrorists - and then, would lose it again, to the state - which intends to end their lives in order to prevent a disaster on the ground. Shooting down the aircraft denies the innocent passenger's right to life; and sacrificing people in order to prevent any disaster reduces their lives to a mere means to an end, thus negating constitutionally protected human values. Beside that, the court also noted that every human life needs protection by the state, and this counts also for passengers which are doomed to be killed at the hands of terrorists - so the state is not allowed to accelerate their death. See the German Wikipedia entry, Urteil des Bundesverfassungsgerichts zum Luftsicherheitsgesetz 2005, or BBC online, ^*

The President of Germany himself, Horst Köhler, urged a legal examination of the constitutional status of the Luftsicherheitsgesetz after he signed it into law in 2005.

International law issues

Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft (Tokyo Convention)

See the United Nations website for full text. http://www.unodc.org/unodc/terrorism_convention_aircraft.html

Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft (Hague Convention)

Signed in the Hague, on the 16th December 1970. Contains 14 articles relating to what constitutes hijacking and guidelines for what is expected of governments when dealing with hijackings. The convention does not apply to customs, law enforcement or military aircraft. Thus its scope appears to exclusively encompass civilian aircraft. Importantly, the convention only comes into force if the aircraft takes off or lands in a place different to its place of registration. For aircraft with joint registration, one country is designated as the registration state for the purpose of the convention.

See the United Nations website for full text. http://www.unodc.org/unodc/terrorism_convention_aircraft_seizure.html

Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation (Montreal Convention)

See the United Nations website for full text. http://www.unodc.org/unodc/terrorism_convention_civil_aviation.html

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