EgyptAir Flight 648 - Hijack

Hijack

On November 23, 1985, Flight 648 took off at 8pm on its Athens-to-Cairo route. Ten minutes after takeoff, three Palestinian members of Abu Nidal hijacked the aircraft. The terrorists, calling themselves the Egypt Revolution, were heavily armed with guns and grenades. The terrorist leader, Omar Rezaq, then proceeded to check all passports. It was at this point that an Egyptian Security Service agent aboard opened fire, killing one terrorist instantly before being wounded along with two flight attendants. In the exchange of fire the fuselage was punctured, causing a rapid depressurization. The aircraft was forced to descend to 14,000 feet (4,300 m) to allow the crew and passengers to breathe.

Libya was the original destination for the terrorists, but due to the negative publicity the hijacking would have had if flown to Libya and the fact that the plane did not have enough fuel, Malta was chosen as a more suitable option. The aircraft was now running dangerously low on fuel, experiencing serious pressurization problems and carrying a number of wounded passengers. Maltese authorities still did not give permission for the aircraft to land (the Maltese government had previously refused permission to other hijacked aircraft, such as on September 27, 1982 when an Alitalia aircraft was hijacked on its way to Italy). The EgyptAir 648 terrorists insisted, and they forced the pilot, Hani Galal, to land at Luqa Airport. As a last-ditch attempt to stop the landing, the runway lights were switched off, but the pilot still managed to land the damaged aircraft safely.