| 1973 Rome airport attacks | |
|---|---|
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Initial attack site atLeonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino International Airport in Rome and hijacked airliner landing sites | |
| Location | 41°48′01″N12°14′20″E / 41.80028°N 12.23889°E /41.80028; 12.23889 (Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport) |
| Date | 17–18 December 1973 (CET /UTC+01:00) |
| Target | Aircraft inLeonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport |
Attack type | Terrorism,aircraft hijacking,hostage crisis,firebombing |
| Deaths | 34 |
| Injured | At least 22 (including 1 terrorist) |
| Perpetrators | Fatah |
In December 1973,Fatah, a Palestinian military organization executed a series of attacks originating atRome-Fiumicino Airport in Italy, resulting in the deaths of 34 people.[1] The attacks began with an airport-terminal invasion and hostage-taking, followed by the firebombing of aPan Am aircraft and the hijacking of aLufthansa flight.
Pan Am Flight 110 was scheduled to depart from Rome, Italy and arrive inTehran, Iran, by way ofBeirut, Lebanon. On 17 December 1973, shortly beforetakeoff, theairport terminal and the flight aircraft were attacked and the aircraft was set on fire by armed Palestinian gunmen, resulting in the deaths of thirty persons on the plane and two in the terminal.[2]
Following the Flight 110 attack, the gunmenhijacked Lufthansa Flight 303 and killed two more people. They ended up in thecustody of theKuwaiti authorities.[3]
Since the public has never been provided with unambiguous, official proof as to which power or organization commissioned the attack, the real motives remain unknown to this day. However, this terrorist operation on Italian soil can be related to another event: on the very same 17 December date as the Fiumicino massacre, a hearing had been scheduled for the criminal trial of the terrorists, already detained in Italy, of the earlier failed terrorist attack inOstia (Rome).[not verified in body]
Since the ousting of thePalestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from Jordan, following theJordanian-Palestinian civil war, Palestinian military organizations made South Lebanon their headquarters and base of operations, enlisting militants from Palestinian refugee camps. South Lebanon was referred to asFatah-land, due to the almost complete control of Fatah and other military Palestinian organizations over this -officially Lebanese- area, which they used to stage attacks against Israel, mainly targeting civilians, and to engage in armed operations abroad, termed "acts of terrorism."[citation needed]
 Clipper Celestial on fire shortly after the attack | |
| Incident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 17 December 1973 (1973-12-17) |
| Summary | Aircraft attack,arson |
| Site | Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino International Airport 41°48′01″N12°14′20″E / 41.80028°N 12.23889°E /41.80028; 12.23889 (Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport) |
 | |
| Aircraft | |
 A Pan AmBoeing 707-321B similar to the aircraft involved | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 707-321B |
| Aircraft name | Clipper Celestial |
| Operator | Pan Am |
| Call sign | CLIPPER 110 |
| Registration | N407PA |
| Flight origin | Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, Italy |
| Stopover | Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport,Beirut, Lebanon |
| Destination | Mehrabad International Airport,Tehran, Iran |
| Occupants | 177 |
| Passengers | 167 |
| Crew | 10 |
| Fatalities | 30 |
| Injuries | 20 |
| Survivors | 147 |
On 17 December 1973, Pan Am Flight 110 was scheduled to fly fromLeonardo da Vinci International Airport in Rome toBeirut International Airport in Lebanon and then on toTehran, Iran. At the controls of theBoeing 707-321B (registration N407PA,[4] nameClipper Celestial)[5] wereCaptain Andrew Erbeck,[6]First Officer Robert Davison, andFlight engineer Kenneth Pfrang.[7][8]
At approximately 12:51 local time in Rome, just as Flight 110 was preparing totaxi, five suspects made their way through theterminal building, armed withautomatic firearms andgrenades. The terrorists removedsubmachine guns from hand-luggage bags and began firing throughout the terminal, shattering windows and killing two people. Pilots and crew in thecockpit of the aircraft were able to observe travelers and airport employees in the building running for cover. Captain Erbeck announced over the plane'spublic address system that there was "some commotion" in the terminal and instructed all the people on board to get down on the floor.
Several of the gunmen ran across thetarmac toward thePan American jet, throwing onephosphorusincendiary and other hand grenades through the open front and rear doors of the aircraft.[9] The explosions knocked crew and passengers to the ground, and the cabin filled with thick, acrid smoke from the resulting fires. Stewardesses were able to open theemergency exit over the wing on one side of the plane; the other exit was obstructed by gunmen. The crew attempted to evacuate as many passengers as possible through the available exit, but twenty-nine passengers andpurser Diana Perez[7] died on the plane, including all eleven passengers infirst class. FourMoroccan officials[10] heading to Iran for a visit, and Bonnie Erbeck, wife of the plane's captain,[6] were among the dead.[11] Captain Erbeck survived the attack. Also killed were fourteenAramco employees and employee family members.[7] The aircraft itself was destroyed.[5]
.jpg) D-ABEY, the aircraft involved in the hijacking, seen in 1970 | |
| Hijacking | |
|---|---|
| Date | 17 December 1973 (1973-12-17)– 18 December 1973 (1973-12-18) |
| Summary | Aircraft hijacking |
| Site | Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino International Airport inRome, Italy 41°48′01″N12°14′20″E / 41.80028°N 12.23889°E /41.80028; 12.23889 (Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport) |
| |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 737-100 |
| Operator | Lufthansa |
| Call sign | LUFTHANSA 303 |
| Registration | D-ABEY |
| Flight origin | Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport |
| Destination | Munich-Riem Airport,Munich, West Germany |
| Occupants | 19 |
| Passengers | 15 (including 5 terrorists) |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 2 (including 1 on ground) |
| Injuries | 2 |
| Survivors | 18 |
Having assaulted the Pan Am aircraft, the five gunmen took hostage several Italians and Lufthansa ground crew members into Lufthansa Flight 303, waiting to depart forMunich.[12] AnItalian border police officer, 20-year-old Antonio Zara, was shot and killed when he first arrived at the scene of the attack and tried to fight the terrorists, after the general alarm had been sounded by the airport'scontrol tower.
The hijackers then forced the crew already on board to move the plane towards the runway in order to take off. For the first part of theplane's taxiing, the aircraft was chased by severalCarabinieri andGuardia di Finanza vehicles, who abandoned the chase after the hijackers threatened to kill all the hostages on board. At 13:32 hours, just over half an hour from the start of the action, the plane took off forAthens,Greece, where it arrived at 16:50 hours, local Athens time.
The attack was too fast to allow an adequate response from the airport's police forces. At the time, 117 officers were on duty at the airport: 9carabinieri, 46customs officers and 62State Police officers, of which 8 were employed in the anti-sabotage service, a negligible number for an intercontinental airport like Fiumicino. The airport structure was unsuitable for the prevention of terrorist attacks, as it was designed at a time when such events were rare.
Upon landing in Athens, the terrorists demanded by radio the release of two Palestinian gunmen responsible foran attack on Hellinikon International Airport.[1] They claimed to have killed five hostages, including the plane's first officer. The terrorists then threatened to crash the jet in the middle of Athens if their demands were not met. In reality, only one Italian hostage, Domenico Ippoliti, had been killed and one other hostage wounded. After the refusal of the two detainees to join the commando, they limited their demands to just refuel and leave.[13] The plane took off again from Athens after sixteen hours on the ground and after the gunmen had released the wounded hostage and dumped the body of the dead hostage onto the tarmac.[citation needed]
The plane next headed forBeirut,Lebanon, where Lebanese authorities refused to allow its landing, and blocked the runway with vehicles.Cyprus also refused to allow landing. The terrorists on board ordered the plane to head forDamascus,Syria, allegedly because the plane was running low on fuel. After they landed in the Syrian capital's airport,Air Force Commander Major General Naji Jamil attempted to persuade the Palestinians to release the hostages, but they refused. The Syrians provided food to everyone on board and refueled the plane. They also treated one of the hijackers for a head injury. The plane took off again two to three hours after landing.[citation needed]
The commandeered jet headed forKuwait, where Kuwaiti authorities refused to allow it to land. Captain Kroese was ordered by the terrorists to land anyway on a secondary runway.[14] An hour of negotiations between the terrorists and the Kuwaiti authorities ended with the release of all twelve remaining hostages[9] in exchange for "free passage" to an unknown destination for the hijackers. The terrorists were permitted to retain their weapons and, upon leaving the plane, raised their hands to the cameras in aV-for-victory sign.[15]
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The terrorists negotiated their escape, but they were still captured shortly thereafter. TheKuwaiti authorities, after questioning the terrorists, decided not to put them ontrial and considered the possibility of handing them over.The factors that came into play at this point were complex, and sparked a diplomatic case that saw the US and many Arab and European countries clashing over the fate of the terrorists and which nation had jurisdiction to prosecute them.
Italy, despite having made a formal request forextradition to theArab emirate, appeared to have no real intention of detaining and trying the terrorists on its own territory, since the request was bound to fail (Italy had no extradition treaty with Kuwait). What probably encouraged Italy to relent in its efforts to take the matter under its command was the danger that detaining the suspects in Italian prisons could have exposed Italy to retaliation by other Palestinian terrorists in a bid for their release. Subsequently, in fact, the last terrorist who was held in Italy (responsible for the failed attack inOstia in 1972) was also actually released, probably for the same reason. Other European countries such as theNetherlands also followed this line of thinking. Italy's actions lend credence to the notion that the Italian government had decided to consider the tragic events at Fiumicino in terms of its "national interest", whereby it engaged in compromise that tended towards humiliation.
After gruelling international wrangling, in 1974, Egyptian presidentAnwar Sadat agreed to the suspects being taken toCairo under the responsibility of their group, who would process them for conducting an "unauthorized operation". They remained in prison until 24 November 1974, when, following negotiations further to the hijack of a British aircraft inTunisia (carried out with the precise aim of forcing their release), the five men in the commando were released in Tunisia with the complicity of a good number of Arab and European governments and the US. Thereafter, all news of the men ceased and they were spirited away, perhaps hosted in an Arab country where they went unpunished.
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ran on to the apron and two phosphorus bombs were thrown into the front and rear entrances of a Pan American 707 Celestial Clipper, with 170 passengers on board
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