| El Al Flight 426 | |
| Image Upright: | 1.15 |
| Type: | Hijacking |
| Occurrence Type: | Hijacking |
| Occupants: | 48 |
| Passengers: | 38 (Including 3 hijackers) |
| Crew: | 10 |
| Fatalities: | 0 |
| Survivors: | 48 (Including 3 hijackers) |
| Aircraft Type: | Boeing 707–458 |
| Operator: | El Al |
| Origin: | London Heathrow Airport |
| Stopover: | Rome Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport |
| Destination: | Lod Airport (renamed Ben Gurion International Airport) |
| Tail Number: | 4X-ATA |
El Al Flight 426 was an El Al passenger flight hijacked on 23 July 1968 by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), setting off a wave of hijackings by the PFLP.[1]
Scholars of political science and terrorism studies have characterized the hijacking of the El Al Flight 426 as significant in the advent of modern international air terrorism.[2] According to David C. Rapoport, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the modern wave of left-wing terrorism began with the hijacking of the El Al Flight 426 in the context of the political unrest of 1968.[3]
The aircraft, a Boeing 707-458, was scheduled to fly from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome to Lod Airport, now known as Ben Gurion International Airport. The plane was diverted to Algiers.[4]
After the aircraft departed Rome, the pilots requested coffee from the cabin crew. As the coffee was being brought up to the pilots, two of the hijackers forced their way through the door to the flight deck, one of them clubbed the flight engineer with the butt of his pistol and ordered the plane to fly to Algiers. The remaining hijacker threatened the passengers with a pistol and an unpinned hand grenade.
When the plane landed at Dar El Beida, Algerian authorities grounded the plane. The following day they sent all non-Israeli passengers to France on Air Algérie Caravelle jets. Ten women and children were released over the weekend. The remaining 12 Israeli passengers, and the crew of 10 were held as hostages for the remainder of the hijacking.The hijackers were identified as members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. They were equipped with Iranian and Indian passports. The hijackers were carefully chosen by the PFLP because of their occupations (a pilot, an army officer, and a karate teacher).
The Israeli and Algerian governments negotiated the return of the hostages and plane through diplomatic channels. Five weeks later, everyone was released in exchange for 16 convicted Arab prisoners.[1] According to the BBC, lasting 40 days, it was the longest hijacking of a commercial flight.[5]
Pilot Oded Abarbanell later wrote a memoir of his experience during the hijacking.[6] [7]