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Olympic Airways Flight 255

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1970 terrorist attack on a Boeing 727
Olympic Airways Flight 255
An Olympic Airways 727, similar to the one involved in the hijacking.
Hijacking
Date22 July 1970
SummaryHijacking
Siteover Rhodes, Greece
Aircraft
Aircraft typeBoeing 727
OperatorOlympic Airways
Flight originBeirut, Lebanon
DestinationAthens, Greece
Passengers47 (including 6 hijackers)
Crew8
Fatalities0
Survivors55

On 22 July 1970, Olympic Airways Flight 255 was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists over Rhodes, Greece, after it had taken off from Beirut, Lebanon en route to Athens, Greece. The hijackers demanded and successfully negotiated the release of seven Palestinian terrorists held in Greek prisons.

Hijacking

The six-person commando of hijackers, belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and/or the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PSF), demanded the release of seven Palestinians held in Greek prisons for three terrorist incidents, the El Al Flight 253 attack, the attempted hijacking of a TWA flight on 21 December 1969, and the 1969 Athens airline office attack. The hijackers threatened to blow up the plane if their demands were not met.

In response to the hijacking, the owner of the airliner, Aristotle Onassis, flew to Athens, and along with Stylianos Pattakos, the Greek Deputy Premier and Interior Minister, and Justice Minister Anghelos Tsou, attempted to negotiate with the hijackers, with all three offering to exchange themselves as hostages with the passengers. While their offers were rejected, it was through the mediation of the International Red Cross representative André Rochat at the Athens Airport, that the Greek government eventually announced eight hours after the plane had landed that all the terrorists would be released within one month, while announcing that it had received assurances from Arab diplomats that Greece would never again be used for terrorist activities.

While the passengers were released in Athens, the hijackers subsequently ordered the flight flown to Cairo, Egypt with five crew members and Rochat who had voluntarily offered himself as a captive as a voucher for the promised release of the seven terrorists. The hijackers were greeted at the Cairo Airport by President Gamal Abdel Nasser and given a hero's welcome. The plane was returned to Athens the next day. The terrorists held in Greek prisons were eventually released in August, despite objections from the Israeli government.

The submission of the Greek government to the hijackers' demands have been said to have encouraged a number of further hijackings, notably including the Dawson's Field hijackings later the same year.

References

  1. ^ "Athens Agrees to Free 7 After Arabs Seize Airliner". The New York Times. 23 July 1970. Archived from the original on 19 May 2023.
  2. ^ Terrorism in the Cold War: State Support in the West, Middle East and Latin America. Bloomsbury. 2020. pp. 98–99. ISBN 9780755600281.
  3. ^ Choi, Jin-Tai; Munson, Robert B. (1993). Aviation Terrorism: Historical Survey, Perspectives and Responses. Springer. p. 46. ISBN 9781349231751.
  4. "On Ari's scorpion-shaped island". Daily News. New York. 29 January 1976. p. 376. Retrieved 18 May 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Arab Terrorists Seize Airliner; Demand Release of Seven Terrorists Jailed, on Trial". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 23 July 1970. Archived from the original on 19 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Greek Government Releases Seven Arab Terrorists Who Had Been Sentenced to Prison". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 14 August 1970. Archived from the original on 19 May 2023.
  7. "Eban Repeats Demand That Greece Not Release Terrorists; Probing Role of Red Cross". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 29 July 1970. Archived from the original on 19 May 2023.
  8. Veilleux-Lepage, Yannick (2020). How Terror Evolves: The Emergence and Spread of Terrorist Techniques. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 88. ISBN 9781786608796.
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1970 (1970)
Jan 5 Spantax Convair crashJan 28 Batagay An-24 crashJan 29 Aeroflot Flight 145Feb 2 Cornfield Bomber crash landingFeb 4 Aerolineas Argentinas Flight 707Feb 4 TAROM Flight 35Feb 6 Aeroflot Flight U-45Feb 15 Dominicana DC-9 disasterFeb 21 Swissair Flight 330Mar 14 Paraense Transportes Aéreos Flight 903Mar 17 Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320Mar 31 Japan Airlines Flight 351Apr 1 Aeroflot Flight 1661Apr 1 Berrechid crashApr 21 Philippine Airlines Flight 215May 2 ALM Flight 980May 15 Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affairJul 3 Dan-Air Flight 1903Jul 5 Air Canada Flight 621Jul 18 Soviet Air Force Antonov An-22Jul 22 Olympic Airways Flight 255 hijackingJul 27 Flying Tiger Line Flight 45Aug 9 LANSA Flight 502Aug 12 China Airlines Flight 206Sep 2 Aeroflot Flight 3630Sep 6 Dawson's Field hijackingsSep 8 Trans International Airlines Flight 863Sep 26 Flugfélag Íslands Flight 704Oct 2 Wichita State Univ football teamOct 15 Aeroflot Flight 244Nov 14 Southern Airways Flight 932Nov 27 Capitol International Airways Flight C2C3/26
1969   ◄    ►   1971
Prominent Palestinian militancy attacks in the 1970s
Within Israel
Gaza Strip
Aircraft attacks
and hijackings
Worldwide
Attacks launched from Lebanon 1960s 1980s
Aviation accidents and incidents in Greece
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2020s
Crashes in water near Greece: Cyprus Airways Flight 284 (October 1967) · TWA Flight 841 (September 1974)
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