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Sabena Flight 571

1970s in Tel Aviv1970s murders in Israel1972 crimes in Israel1972 in Belgium1972 murders in Asia
AC with 0 elementsAccidents and incidents involving the Boeing 707Aircraft hijackingsAttacks on aircraft by Palestinian militant groupsAviation accidents and incidents in 1972Aviation accidents and incidents in IsraelCounterterrorism in IsraelHostage taking in IsraelMay 1972 events in AsiaMilitary operations of the Israeli–Palestinian conflictOperations involving Israeli special forcesPalestinian terrorismPalestinian terrorist incidents in EuropeSabena accidents and incidentsTerrorist incidents in Asia in 1972Terrorist incidents in Israel in the 1970sTerrorist incidents in Tel AvivVictims of the Black September OrganizationWikipedia extended-confirmed-protected pages
Sabena Flight 571. I
Sabena Flight 571. I

Sabena Flight 571 was a scheduled passenger flight from Brussels to Lod via Vienna operated by the Belgian national airline, Sabena. On 8 May 1972 a Boeing 707 passenger aircraft operating that service, captained by British pilot Reginald Levy, DFC, was hijacked by four members of the Black September Organization, a Palestinian terrorist group. Following their instructions, Captain Levy landed the plane at Lod Airport (later Ben Gurion International Airport). The hijackers demanded that Israel release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the hostages. The standoff was ended by an Israeli commando raid in which all of the hijackers were killed or captured.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Sabena Flight 571 (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Sabena Flight 571
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N 32.0094 ° E 34.8769 °
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Circle Road
7015001
Center District, Israel
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Sabena Flight 571. I
Sabena Flight 571. I
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Ben Gurion Airport
Ben Gurion Airport

Ben Gurion Airport (Hebrew: נמל התעופה בן-גוריון; Arabic: مطار بن غوريون الدولي) (IATA: TLV, ICAO: LLBG), commonly known by its Hebrew acronym as Natbag (נתב״ג), is the main international airport of Israel and the busiest one in the country. The airport is located on the northern outskirts of the city of Lod, about 45 km (28 mi) northwest of Jerusalem and 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Tel Aviv. Originally named Lod Airport, it was renamed in 1973 after David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister. The airport serves as a hub for El Al, Israir Airlines, Arkia, and Sun D'Or and is operated by the Israel Airports Authority – a government-owned corporation that manages all public airports and border crossings in Israel. In 2019, Ben Gurion handled 24.8 million passengers. The airport is considered to be among the five best airports in the Middle East due to its passenger experience and its high level of security. Security forces such as Israel Police officers, IDF and Israel Border Police soldiers are complemented by airport security guards who operate both in uniform and undercover. The airport has been the target of several terrorist attacks, but no attempt to hijack a plane departing from Ben Gurion airport has ever succeeded.The airport is of extreme strategic importance to Israel due to it being one of the few convenient entry points to the country for most travelers. To alleviate single point of failure risk, Ramon Airport was opened in 2019.

Lod Airport massacre

The Lod Airport massacre was a terrorist attack that occurred on 30 May 1972. Three members of the Japanese Red Army recruited by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations (PFLP-EO), attacked Lod Airport (now Ben Gurion International Airport) near Tel Aviv, killing 26 people and injuring 80 others. Two of the attackers were killed, while a third, Kōzō Okamoto, was captured after being wounded. The dead comprised 17 Christian pilgrims from Puerto Rico, a Canadian citizen, and eight Israelis, including Professor Aharon Katzir, an internationally renowned protein biophysicist. Katzir was head of the Israeli National Academy of Sciences, a popular scientific radio show host, and a candidate in the upcoming Israeli presidential election. His brother, Ephraim Katzir, was elected President of Israel the following year. Because airport security was focused on the possibility of a Palestinian attack, the use of Japanese attackers took the guards by surprise. The attack has often been described as a suicide mission, but it has also been asserted that it was the outcome of an unpublicized larger operation that went awry. The three perpetrators—Kōzō Okamoto, Tsuyoshi Okudaira, and Yasuyuki Yasuda—had been trained in Baalbek, Lebanon; the actual planning was handled by Wadie Haddad (a.k.a. Abu Hani), head of PFLP External Operations, with some input from Okamoto. In the immediate aftermath, Der Spiegel speculated that funding had been provided by some of the $5 million ransom paid by the West German government in exchange for the hostages of hijacked Lufthansa Flight 649 in February 1972.