TWA Flight 847

Uncommon card · No. 106225

TWA Flight 847 was a regularly scheduled Trans World Airlines flight from Cairo to San Diego with en route stops in Athens, Rome, Boston, and Los Angeles. On the morning of June 14, 1985, Flight 847 was hijacked soon after takeoff from Athens. The Hezbollah hijackers demanded the release of a total of 766 Shia Muslims from Israeli custody and took the plane repeatedly to Beirut and Algiers. As of 2023, Hezbollah continues to deny involvement. The hijacking and subsequent hostage situation played out over the course of 17 days, during which the aircraft crisscrossed the Mediterranean. Many passengers were tied up and beaten, and those with Jewish-sounding names were separated from the others. United States Navy diver Robert Stethem was murdered, and his body was thrown onto the Beirut airport apron. The ordeal finally ended after some of the hijackers' demands had been met and they agreed to release all remaining hostages. Many believed that due to the lawless nature of Lebanon at the time...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Jon Proctor, GFDL 1.2