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KLM Flight 861
PH-BUA, the incident aircraft, at Faro Airport in 1988.
Hijacking
Date25 November 1973
SummaryAircraft hijacking
SiteDubai
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 747-206B[1]
Aircraft nameThe Mississippi
OperatorKLM
RegistrationPH-BUA[1]
Flight originSchiphol Airport, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
StopoverEllinikon International Airport, Athens, Greece
1st stopoverBeirut International Airport, Beirut, Lebanon
2nd stopoverPalam Airport, Delhi, India
DestinationTokyo International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
Passengers247[1]
Crew17[1]
Fatalities0
Survivors264
The crew with minister Tjerk Westerterp after the incident

KLM Flight 861, operated by a Boeing 747 registered PH-BUA and named "The Mississippi", was hijacked on 25 November 1973, by three young Arabs over Iraqi airspace on a scheduled Amsterdam-Tokyo flight with 247 passengers on board.

Incident

KLM Flight 861, captained by Issac Risseeuw, was a scheduled flight from Amsterdam (AMS) to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) with planned stops at Athens (ATH), Beirut (BEY) and Delhi (DEL). The airplane was en route over Iraq when it was hijacked by three passengers, claiming to be members of the Arab Youth Organization for the Liberation of Palestine. They forced the plane to Damascus, Nicosia, Tripoli, Malta, and finally Dubai where the hijackers surrendered to authorities. All 247 passengers and 17 crew survived the hijacking.

Aftermath

The hijack was claimed by the Arab Nationalist Youth Organization. The flight number is still used for the Amsterdam to Tokyo direct route.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Hijacking description PP-SNT". Aviation Safety Network.

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