Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708

1972 aircraft highjacking attempt

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708
Incident
An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 720 similar to the incident aircraft
Date	8 December 1972 (1972-12-08)
Summary	Attempted hijacking
Site	Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 720-060B
Operator	Ethiopian Airlines
Flight origin	Haile Selassie I International Airport
1st stopover	Asmara International Airport
2nd stopover	Ellinikon International Airport
3rd stopover	Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport
Destination	Charles de Gaulle Airport
Fatalities	7 hijackers
Survivors	87

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708 was a Boeing 720-060B, due to operate an international scheduled Addis Ababa–Asmara–Athens–Rome–Paris passenger service, that experienced a hijacking attempt on 8 December 1972.

Summary

Minutes after departing from Haile Selassie I International Airport bound for Paris, when the aircraft was flying at some 29,000 feet (8,800 m), seven members of the Eritrean Liberation Front stood up and tried to gain control of the plane. Onboard security guards opened fire on the hijackers, killing six. During the firefight a hand grenade that was armed by one of the hijackers was rolled down the aisle by a passenger. The grenade exploded in the rear part of the fuselage, some 6 inches (150 mm) off the plane's centreline, blowing a hole in the cabin floor and damaging or severing several controls of the aircraft, including those of throttle of two engines, of the rudder, and of the horizontal stabiliser. Despite this, the crew turned back the airplane to the airport of origin and managed to land it safely; it sustained minor damages that were repaired later. The seventh hijacker died in hospital of their injuries.

Footnotes

Notes

There exists a discrepancy over the number of men and women in the group that attempted to hijack the aircraft, depending upon the source: five men and two women, or six men and a woman.

References

^ Hijacking description at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 30 July 2012.
^ "No decompression". Flight International: 754. 13 June 1974. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
^ "Mid-air shooting". Flight International: 854. 14 December 1972. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2012.

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Accidents and incidents	Flight 372 (1960) Flight 708 (1972) Flight 604 (1988) Flight 961 (1996) Flight 409 (2010) Flight 702 (2014) Flight 302 (2019)

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v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972 (1972)
Jan 7 Iberia Flight 602Jan 21 Turkish Airlines DC-9 crashJan 26 JAT Yugoslav Flight 367Feb 22 Lufthansa Flight 649Mar 3 Mohawk Airlines Flight 405Mar 14 Sterling Airways Flight 296Mar 19 EgyptAir Flight 763Apr 18 East African Airways Flight 720May 4 Aeroflot Flight B-608May 5 Alitalia Flight 112May 8 Sabena Flight 571May 16 Svetlogorsk An-24 crashMay 18 Aeroflot Flight 1491May 30 Delta Air Lines Flight 9570Jun 12 American Airlines Flight 96Jun 14 Japan Air Lines Flight 471Jun 15 Cathay Pacific Flight 700ZJun 18 British European Airways Flight 548Jun 24 Prinair Flight 191Jun 29 Lake Winnebago mid-air collisionJul 2 Pan Am Flight 841Jul 5 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 710Jul 31 Delta Air Lines Flight 841Aug 14 Königs Wusterhausen disasterAug 16 Burma Airways Thandwe crashAug 31 Aeroflot Flight 558Sep 15 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130Sep 24 Japan Air Lines Flight 472Sep 24 Sacramento Canadair Sabre accidentOct 1 Aeroflot Flight 1036Oct 13 Aeroflot Flight 217Oct 13 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571Oct 27 Air Inter Flight 696YOct 29 Lufthansa Flight 615Oct 30 Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 327Nov 10 Southern Airways Flight 49Nov 15 Ansett Australia Flight 232Nov 28 Japan Air Lines Flight 446Dec 3 Tenerife Spantax Convair CV-990 crashDec 8 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708Dec 8 United Air Lines Flight 553Dec 8 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 631Dec 20 Chicago–O'Hare runway collisionDec 23 Braathens Flight 239Dec 29 Eastern Air Lines Flight 401Dec 31 Puerto Rico DC-7 crash
1971 ◄ ► 1973

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972 (1972)

Jan 7 Iberia Flight 602Jan 21 Turkish Airlines DC-9 crashJan 26 JAT Yugoslav Flight 367Feb 22 Lufthansa Flight 649Mar 3 Mohawk Airlines Flight 405Mar 14 Sterling Airways Flight 296Mar 19 EgyptAir Flight 763Apr 18 East African Airways Flight 720May 4 Aeroflot Flight B-608May 5 Alitalia Flight 112May 8 Sabena Flight 571May 16 Svetlogorsk An-24 crashMay 18 Aeroflot Flight 1491May 30 Delta Air Lines Flight 9570Jun 12 American Airlines Flight 96Jun 14 Japan Air Lines Flight 471Jun 15 Cathay Pacific Flight 700ZJun 18 British European Airways Flight 548Jun 24 Prinair Flight 191Jun 29 Lake Winnebago mid-air collisionJul 2 Pan Am Flight 841Jul 5 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 710Jul 31 Delta Air Lines Flight 841Aug 14 Königs Wusterhausen disasterAug 16 Burma Airways Thandwe crashAug 31 Aeroflot Flight 558Sep 15 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130Sep 24 Japan Air Lines Flight 472Sep 24 Sacramento Canadair Sabre accidentOct 1 Aeroflot Flight 1036Oct 13 Aeroflot Flight 217Oct 13 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571Oct 27 Air Inter Flight 696YOct 29 Lufthansa Flight 615Oct 30 Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 327Nov 10 Southern Airways Flight 49Nov 15 Ansett Australia Flight 232Nov 28 Japan Air Lines Flight 446Dec 3 Tenerife Spantax Convair CV-990 crashDec 8 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708Dec 8 United Air Lines Flight 553Dec 8 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 631Dec 20 Chicago–O'Hare runway collisionDec 23 Braathens Flight 239Dec 29 Eastern Air Lines Flight 401Dec 31 Puerto Rico DC-7 crash

1971 ◄ ► 1973

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Ethiopia
Ethiopian Air Lines Flight 372 (15 July 1960) East African Airways Flight 720 (18 April 1972) Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708 (8 December 1972) Ethiopian Airlines Flight 604 (15 September 1988) Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 (10 March 2019)

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Summary

See also

Footnotes

Notes

References