Word: amman
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...afternoon sun, their finned tails emblazoned with the insignia of three famed airlines: TWA. BOAC and Swissair. Then suddenly a huge explosion, then another and another. The planes crumpled, then burst into flame. From the burning wreckage rose columns of black smoke that were visible 25 miles away in Amman, where Arab guerrillas fired their guns in celebration...
They could not have imagined what was actually taking place. Gaza One and Haifa One were not headed toward a major airport. Instead, they were on a course toward a broad expanse of flat desert some 25 miles northwest of Amman. After World War II, the British had used the area as a training airfield, and its name?Dawson's Field ?was taken from the British commander who sent units there...
...continued chaos in Jordan made negotiations all but impossible. After arriving in Amman from Geneva, Red Cross Negotiator Rochat was trapped all day Wednesday in his hotel by the wild street fighting outside. He finally managed to reach one Front official by telephone. Pleading that circumstances made it impossible to start bargaining, he persuaded the commandos to agree to a 72-hour extension of their original 10 p.m. Wednesday deadline for blowing up the planes and their occupants...
...deadline was 10 p.m. E.D.T. on Saturday. The U.S. State Department, which set up a round-the-clock command post in Washington under Middle East Specialist Talcott W. Seelye, stayed in constant touch with its embassy in Amman. But a U.S. official who tried to drive out to the airstrip was turned back, and frequently diplomatic personnel could not even venture into Amman's streets...
...turned down the commandos' first detailed list of demands, which would have resulted in the trade of some hostages for convicted hijackers held in Europe and left others, including all the Jews and Israelis, to be bartered in a separate deal with Israel. The harrowing existence of hostages in Amman eased somewhat when the warring Jordanians and commandos reached yet another truce...