- Iraqi Airways Flight 163
Iraqi Airways Flight 163 was a Boeing 737-270C, registered YI-AGJ, that was hijacked in 1986. On
25 December 1986 , en route fromBaghdad 'sBaghdad International Airport toAmman ,Jordan , Flight 163 was hijacked by four men.Iraqi Airways security personnel tried to stop the hijackers, but ahand grenade was detonated in the passenger cabin, forcing the crew to initiate an emergency descent. Another hand grenade exploded in the cockpit, causing the aircraft to crash nearArar ,Saudi Arabia where it broke in two and caught fire.There were 106 people on board, and 63 of them died. The surviving passengers were able to tell authorities what transpired on the aircraft. The hijacking was one of the deadliest ever, and was one of many in 1985 and 1986.
Shortly after the hijacking, the pro-
Iran ian group "Islamic Jihad" (a widely used name forHezbollah ) claimed responsibility. One of the dead hijackers was later identified by theCentral Intelligence Agency as a Lebanese national namedRibal Khalil Jallul , whose passport photo was matched to a Hezbollah martyr poster found near a mosque in Beirut.1Iraq accused Iran of being behind the attack.References
1 Robert Baer, "See No Evil", Three Rivers Press, 2002. p 113
ee also
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Lists of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners
*Air safety External links
* [http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19861225-1 Aviation Safety Network Entry for Iraqi Hijacking]
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