1974 British Airways bombing attempt

(Redirected from 1973 British Airways bombing attempt) IRA bombing attempt

1974 British Airways bombing attempt
Incident
A British Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident similar to the aircraft involved
Date	23 July 1974
Summary	Attempted bombing
Aircraft type	Hawker Siddeley Trident
Operator	British Airways
Registration	Unknown
Flight origin	Aldergrove Airport, Antrim Town, Northern Ireland
Destination	Heathrow Airport, Middlesex, Great Britain
Passengers	85
Crew	Unknown
Fatalities	0
Survivors	85+

On 23 July 1974, a small bomb was found aboard a British Airways flight from Aldergrove Airport, near Belfast, to London, following a telephoned warning. The flight made an emergency landing at Manchester Airport. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) claimed it had planted the bomb as a symbolic act, and that it had not been set to explode. It is the only time that the IRA has planted a bomb aboard an aircraft, and was the second terrorist incident involving a bomb aboard an aircraft in the United Kingdom.

Incident

The flight took off from Aldergrove Airport, near Antrim Town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, for a domestic flight to London Heathrow Airport, England. As the flight was over the Irish Sea a phone call was made to The Irish News warning that a bomb was on board and would explode. The flight crew diverted and made an emergency landing at Manchester Airport. All 85 passengers and crew were removed from the aircraft. Police found the bomb in a plastic bag under one of the seats. The bomb had 2 kg (4.4 lb) of explosives and was removed where a controlled explosion was carried out.

Three police officers from the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) were on board the flight. These included the Chief Constable of the RUC, Jamie Flanagan, together with his wife Florence, and two police officers with their families who were travelling to London to attend an investiture; the two officers were to receive the British Empire Medal from Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for their work during the ongoing Northern Ireland conflict. Jim Molyneaux, MP, Chief Whip for the Ulster Unionist Party and a senior member of the Orange Order, was also on the flight. A young Bob Rae, who would later become Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, was also a passenger.

Aftermath

The IRA claimed that they had put the bomb on the aircraft. The IRA said the bomb was not primed and was not meant to detonate, but that it had been planted as a symbolic act, to show that they could get through the security at Aldergrove Airport, near Belfast. It is unknown how the bomb made its way on board.

The British Airline Pilots' Association called for sterner security measures at Aldergrove Airport in County Antrim, such as banning hand luggage, banning cleaners from boarding the aircraft during the turn-round, and not taking on catering supplies at Aldergrove.

References

^ "Bomb found on Trident". Flight International, 1 August 1974, p.99
"I.R.A. Admits Planting Bomb on British Plane". The New York Times. 26 July 1974.
Archives, The National. "The Discovery Service". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
Down, K-Point Internet Solutions - Warrenpoint, Newry, County. "The Dictionary of Ulster Biography". www.newulsterbiography.co.uk. Retrieved 13 April 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Chartres, John. "Timebomb found under seat after Belfast-London airliner makes an emergency landing". The Times, 24 July 1974; p.1; Issue 59147; col E
Bob Rae (22 July 2014). "I know from experience the horror of airliner attacks". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
"IRA: Security won't stop us". Miami News. Associated Press. 25 July 1974.

External links

"Bomb found on plane from Ulster". The Age. 25 July 1974 – via Google News Archive.
"Bomb found aboard jet". Bangor Daily News. 24 July 1974 – via Google News Archive.
"Bomb scale for 92 in mid-flight". New Straits Times. 25 July 1974 – via Google News Archive.
"Bomb discovered". The Windsor Star. AP. 24 July 1974 – via Google News Archive.
"Unexploded bomb found on jetliner". St. Joseph Gazette. AP. 24 July 1974 – via Google News Archive.

Provisional Irish Republican Army

General

Organisation

Actions

1970–1979	Battle of St Matthew's Falls Curfew 1970 Crossmaglen bombing Scottish soldiers' killings Red Lion bombing Balmoral showroom bombing Abercorn bombing Donegall Street bombing Battle at Springmartin Battle of Lenadoon Bloody Friday Claudy bombing Newry customs bombing Old Bailey bombing Honey Trap killings King's Cross & Euston bombings Coleraine bombings 1973 Westminster bombing M62 bombing Clogher attack Houses of Parliament bombing Tower of London bombing Guildford pub bombings Harrow School bombing Brooks's Club bombing Woolwich pub bombing British Airways bombing attempt Birmingham pub bombings London pillar box bombings Talbot Arms bombing Bristol bombing Telephone exchange bombings 1974 Oxford Street bombing Carlton Tower & Portman Hotel shootings Mountainview attack Bayardo Bar attack Forkhill attack Caterham Arms bombing Tullyvallen massacre London Hilton bombing Piccadilly bombing Trattoria Fiore bombing Scott's Oyster Bar bombing Walton's Restaurant bombing Drummuckavall ambush Balcombe Street siege Kingsmill massacre West Ham station attack Olympia bombing Store bar shooting Stag Inn attack Garryhinch ambush Jonesborough Gazelle downing La Mon restaurant bombing Crossmaglen ambush Warrenpoint ambush Brussels bombing Dungannon attack
1980–1989	Dunmurry train bombing Lough Foyle attacks Glasdrumman ambush 1981 Bessbrook attack Chelsea Barracks bombing Hyde Park & Regent's Park bombings Harrods bombing Royal Artillery Barracks bombing Brighton hotel bombing Ballygawley land mine attack Newry mortar attack Ballygawley attack Enniskillen mortar attack RUC Birches barracks attack Rheindahlen bombing Loughgall ambush Operation Flavius Corporals killings Lisburn bombing Aughanduff Lynx shootdown 1988 Netherlands attacks Glamorgan barracks bombing Inglis Barracks bombing Ballygawley bus bombing Jonesborough ambush Clive Barracks bombing Deal barracks bombing Mayobridge attack Derryard attack
1990–1991	Derrygorry Gazelle downing South Armagh sniper Downpatrick roadside bomb Operation Conservation 1990 Wembley bombing Carlton Club bombing London Stock Exchange bombing Honourable Artillery Company bombing Lichfield gun attack RFA Fort Victoria bombing Proxy bombings Downing Street mortar attack Paddington & Victoria station bombings Mullacreevie ambush Glenanne barracks bombing Coagh ambush Musgrave Park Hospital bombing Crumlin Road Prison bombing
1992–1997	Teebane bombing Clonoe ambush London Bridge bombing Staples Cnr bombing Baltic Exchange bombing Sussex Arms bombing Cloghoge attack Coalisland riots Forensic Science Laboratory bombing Stoke Newington Road bomb 1992 Manchester bombing Night of the Long Knives 1993 Harrods bombing Warrington bombings Cullaville occupation Camden bombing Bishopsgate bombing Finchley Road bombings Battle of Newry Road Shankill Road bombing 1993 Fivemiletown ambush Heathrow attacks Crossmaglen Lynx downing Drumcree conflict Docklands bombing Aldwych bus bombing 1996 Manchester bombing Hammersmith Bridge bombing Osnabrück mortar attack Thiepval barracks bombing Coalisland attack 1997 Northern Ireland riots

Personalities
(Volunteers)

Espionage and
Supergrasses

Eamon Collins
Denis Donaldson
Joseph Fenton
Kevin Fulton
Raymond Gilmour
Martin McGartland
Sean O'Callaghan
Freddie Scappaticci (allegedly "Stakeknife")

Associates

Derivatives

Prominent
killings

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1974 (1974)
Jan 6 Commonwealth Commuter Flight 317Jan 6 Aeroflot Flight H-75Jan 24 Togo crashJan 26 Turkish Airlines Flight 301Jan 30 Pan Am Flight 806Feb 22 Delta Airlines Flight 523Mar 3 Turkish Airlines Flight 981Mar 13 Sierra Pacific Airlines Flight 802Mar 15 Sterling Airways Flight 901Apr 4 Francistown Wenela Air Services Douglas DC-4 crashApr 18 Court Line Flight 95Apr 22 Pan Am Flight 812Apr 27 Aeroflot Il-18 crashJul 10 EgyptAir Tupolev Tu-154 crashJul 23 British Airways bombing attemptAug 9 Buffalo 461Aug 9 Norfolk mid-air collisionSep 8 TWA Flight 841Sep 11 Eastern Air Lines Flight 212Sep 15 Air Vietnam Flight 706Oct 12 United States Air Force WC-130 disappearanceOct 30 Panarctic Oils Flight 416Nov 20 Lufthansa Flight 540Dec 1 TWA Flight 514Dec 1 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231Dec 4 Martinair Flight 138Dec 22 Avensa Flight 358
1973 ◄ ► 1975

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1974 (1974)

Jan 6 Commonwealth Commuter Flight 317Jan 6 Aeroflot Flight H-75Jan 24 Togo crashJan 26 Turkish Airlines Flight 301Jan 30 Pan Am Flight 806Feb 22 Delta Airlines Flight 523Mar 3 Turkish Airlines Flight 981Mar 13 Sierra Pacific Airlines Flight 802Mar 15 Sterling Airways Flight 901Apr 4 Francistown Wenela Air Services Douglas DC-4 crashApr 18 Court Line Flight 95Apr 22 Pan Am Flight 812Apr 27 Aeroflot Il-18 crashJul 10 EgyptAir Tupolev Tu-154 crashJul 23 British Airways bombing attemptAug 9 Buffalo 461Aug 9 Norfolk mid-air collisionSep 8 TWA Flight 841Sep 11 Eastern Air Lines Flight 212Sep 15 Air Vietnam Flight 706Oct 12 United States Air Force WC-130 disappearanceOct 30 Panarctic Oils Flight 416Nov 20 Lufthansa Flight 540Dec 1 TWA Flight 514Dec 1 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231Dec 4 Martinair Flight 138Dec 22 Avensa Flight 358

1973 ◄ ► 1975

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United Kingdom in the 1970s
1972	British European Airways Flight 548 (June 1972)
1974	Court Line Flight 95 (April 1974) British Airways bombing attempt (July 1974) Norfolk mid-air collision (August 1974)
1975	Graham Hill plane crash (November 1975)
1977	British Airtours Boeing 707 crash (March 1977)
1978	British Army Gazelle downing (February 1978)
1979	Dan-Air Flight 0034 (July 1979)
1960–1969 ◄ 1970–1979 ► 1980–1989

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