The British Aircraft Corporation’s BAC-111, of which 233 were produced between 1963 and 1982 in the United Kingdom, was a short-range, low-capacity twin-engine aircraft on the Sud-Aviation SE.210 Caravelle, Tupolev Tu-134 and McDonnell . Douglas-class DC-9, powered by two Rolls Royce RBs mounted in the rear fuselage. 163 Spey turbofans. It was built with two fuselage lengths: the 89-passenger short-body BAC-111-200, -300, -400, and -475, and the 119-passenger long-body BAC-111-500. Nine of the latter, designated Rombac 1-11-560, were also built under license in Romania.
This study looks at the guy’s hijacking history.
The first recorded BAC-111 hijacking occurred four years after the aircraft entered service, on November 4, 1969, when two men commandeered a LANICA Airlines of Nicaragua example en route from Miami to Mexico City. It landed in Grand Cayman, where the passengers were released, before continuing to its destination with only the crew and the crew members themselves on board.
In the second air piracy incident of the type, which took place two years later, on 14 September 1970, a BAC-111 Tarom with five crew and 84 passengers on board was commandeered by three armed Hungarians shortly after taking off from Budapest in the second leg of the flight. its dual-sector route from Bucharest to Prague. Although he was forced to head for Munich, it was revealed that two men, a woman and two children were behind the act.
Landing safely in West Germany, the twin jet taxied to the instructed parking position, where it was unexpectedly evacuated after the crew learned that the hijackers had hidden a bomb on board. It turned out that the event was fake.
After the confiscation of their weapons, they were sentenced to two and a half years in prison, an irony, since the goal of their air piracy had been freedom.
The BAC-111 was the first commercial airplane hijacked in communist China in an event that occurred a year later, on March 30, 1971. Piloted by Captain Antonio Misa, the Philippine Airlines plane, with four other crew members and 44 passengers . on board, it was requisitioned by five university students from Marawi, Mindanao, on their scheduled flight from Manila to Davao.
The flight diversion, accomplished with a carbine, a pair of scissors and several pistols, occurred during its 1,000-mile crossing of the South China Sea. After landing in Hong Kong, the students requested charts from the then-named Beijing, which they were told were not available, but the plane could be diverted to Guangzhou, where they could be secured. They were informed that Canton itself would try to negotiate landing clearance from Peking for them. They accepted the proposal.
Refueled, the airliner was airborne again and headed for Canton for a successful landing. But the hijackers who, in the event, were not provided with any of the promised graphics, forced 19 passengers to sit under the wing for two and a half hours until the fuel was delivered. Aid to navigation was only provided after they agreed to their release.
While being fed and housed in a nearby dormitory, BAC-111 took off intending to cover the 40-mile distance to the mainland city, but was quickly forced to return to Canton, where the hijackers were eventually apprehended. Free to go, the twin jet set off for Hong Kong, where the hostages were eventually released.
BAC-111 was also involved in a longer commercial airliner hijacking that spanned ten days, covered 8,800 miles, and involved two separate aircraft.
The first of these, a Philippine Airlines example flown by Captain Arnulfo Santos and carrying 73 passengers, routinely proceeded from Cagayan de Oro to Davao on April 7, 1976. However, the flight plan was disrupted when three men, members of the Moro Liberation Front that fought for the country’s independent status in the south, forced the twin jet to divert to Manila and demanded $300,000, drinking water, an internationally-rated pilot, and enough fuel to fly to a destination they only labeled as “westward”. Along with these demands was the release of four political prisoners being held by the Philippine government. The death of the passengers, they affirmed, would be the consequence of non-compliance.
Upon landing in Manila, BAC-111 decelerated and remained on the runway where initial negotiations took place over the radio. Although the prisoners could not be released, the kidnappers were told, they were guaranteed no harm would come to them themselves. However, they finally agreed to release the passengers in exchange for Rafael Igoa, vice president of the airline, personally delivering the monetary request. He would be accompanied by Ben Yadao, the station’s assistant manager.
Once the two airline officials and the money were on board, the plane took off for Kota Kinabalu in East Malaysia, but was initially denied landing clearance until the vice president made a desperate plea, claiming that only 20 minutes of fuel left. on board.
After its wheels made contact with the ground, the BAC-111 was instructed to taxi to a remote area, where it would spend the night surrounded by about 200 police officers. No one was allowed to disembark.
Refueled the next morning, she was granted permission to take off again, now en route to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. But her landing was brief, just long enough for additional fueling, and was followed by a sector to Bangkok, Thailand, where negotiations were held with Philippine Ambassador Manuel T. Yan.
If they were provided with safe passage to Libya, they claimed, they would release the passengers. However, Libya itself had so far failed to grant them authorization, leading the hijackers to consider Egypt as an alternative.
Baking in the sweltering sun and without air conditioning, the twinjet remained on the ground, during which laborious and unproductive negotiations ensued. However, the heat led to the heart, because the hijackers made small concessions, allowing two passengers at a time to leave the plane to wash, eat and change, and two flight attendants to spend the night in a rest house.
Initially intended as a brief refueling stop, Bangkok was quickly transformed into a semi-permanent base as the aircraft’s mechanical difficulties were addressed and permission for all alternate destinations, including Egypt, was denied. Spare parts, in the form of a wheel and an autopilot, eventually arrived by air from Manila.
The creature comforts finally materialized on the second day: a ground-based air conditioning unit brought passengers relief and sandwiches, coffee and soft drinks served as much-needed physical replenishments. The kidnappers themselves, keeping a constant vigil, only consume fruits, such as apples and bananas.
Responding to their demands, a Philippine Airlines DC-8 landed and the men, protected from fire by the hostages, made the 300-yard transfer from the BAC-111. Five days after the air hacking began and 71 hours after landing in Thailand, they finally took off on the second plane, now bound for Karachi, Pakistan. On board were the twin jet pilots, the airline’s vice president, deputy station manager, and the eight DC-8 crew members. All the others had been released.
Only after ensuring its immediate departure after refueling was the plane allowed to land in Karachi, but both Libya and Egypt stood firm on their own denied landing permission. With no choice, he remained on the ground until 05:00 the next day, before taking off for Benghazi, Libya. The remaining dozen hostages, they claimed, would be released if clearance to land was granted.
However, the event culminated in tension when the hijackers threatened to blow up the plane if its surrender was not accepted. It finally was, and the DC-8 touched down at 12:00 noon, after a seven-hour flight.
Released after nearly a week in captivity, the hostages were taken away and the three hijackers were accepted into the country for “humanitarian reasons.”
“Three Filipino Muslims who hijacked an airliner over the southern part of their country a week ago released their 12 hostages here today and surrendered to Libyan authorities,” according to the April 15, 1876 story in The New York Times. .
“Security policemen took the hijackers away, and after a short rest, the 12 hostages (the 10 crew members and two Philippine Air Lines executives) flew to Rome to begin their journey home.
“The hijacking was the longest on record, totaling 8,800 miles, or about 1,150 miles longer than the 1971 hijacking of a passenger plane from Texas to Argentina.”
