Word: hijacks
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Over the Sibuyan Sea in the central Philippines, two long-haired young Filipinos last week barged into the cockpit of a BAC-One-Eleven jet bound from Manila to the southern island of Mindanao. "This is a hijack," said one, pressing a pistol against the pilot's neck. "Head north-to Peking." A second youth nervously fingered the aircraft's fire ax, while three others guarded the passengers. Told that the Philippine Air Lines plane could not make it to Peking, 1,500 miles away, the hijackers agreed to a refueling stop at Hong Kong, where the plane...
Until a few months ago, guerrilla activity in the northern Ethiopian province of Eritrea amounted to little more than an occasional attempt to hijack an airliner. The Ethiopian government scornfully referred to the predominantly Moslem members of the Eritrean Liberation Front as shifta (bandits), and Emperor Haile Selassie dismissed their activity as "insignificant...
...rest of the desolate little group in Moscow were waiting to hear the court's ruling on the appeals of eleven Soviet citizens-nine of them Jews-who also wanted desperately to go to Israel. They were convicted in Leningrad on Christmas Eve of plotting to hijack a Soviet airliner. Two of the Jews were sentenced to death, and seven others, along with the two Gentiles, drew sentences of up to 15 years...
...Russian criminal code dealing with treason. During the trial, the prosecutor spoke of their intent to kill the Soviet pilot-even though the two "pistols" found in their luggage were reportedly fakes made of brick and clay. To be sure, the defendants pleaded guilty of intent to hijack, an illegal act in almost every country. But their real crime apparently was their expressed desire to live in Israel. Significantly, eight of the defendants had previously been refused exit visas to Israel...
Since 1964 there have been at least three other hijack attempts aboard Soviet civilian aircraft, all involving live gunfire. In 1966, three would-be hijackers were shot at by a Soviet pilot, indicating that crew members are armed at least some of the time. Last June authorities arrested a number of Soviet Jews in Leningrad who were allegedly plotting to escape official harassment by hijacking an airliner...