KLM Flight 861 explained

KLM Flight 861
Occurrence Type:Hijacking
Date:25 November 1973
Type:Aircraft hijacking
Site:Dubai
Aircraft Type:Boeing 747-206B[1]
Aircraft Name:The Mississippi
Operator:KLM
Tail Number:PH-BUA
Origin:Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Stopover:Ellinikon International Airport, Athens, Greece
Stopover0:Beirut International Airport, Beirut, Lebanon
Stopover1:Palam Airport, Delhi, India
Destination:Tokyo International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
Passengers:247
Crew:17
Fatalities:0
Survivors:264

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.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hijacking description PP-SNT . Aviation Safety Network.