52 Years ago today: On 13 September 1970 a Swissair DC-8 and a TWA Boeing 707 were blown up at the desert airfield Zerqa, Jordan after being hijacked.
Date: | Sunday 13 September 1970 |
Type: | Boeing 707-331B |
Operator: | Trans World Airlines – TWA |
Registration: | N8715T |
MSN: | 18917/460 |
First flight: | 1965 |
Engines: | 4 Pratt & Whitney JT3D-3B |
Crew: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
Passengers: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
Total: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
Aircraft damage: | Damaged beyond repair |
Location: | Zerqa RAF Station (Dawson’s Field) ( |
Phase: | Standing (STD) |
Nature: | International Scheduled Passenger |
Departure airport: | Frankfurt International Airport (FRA/EDDF), Germany |
Destination airport: | New York-John F. Kennedy International Airport, NY (JFK/KJFK), United States of America |
Flightnumber: | TW741 |
Narrative:
The Boeing 707 carrying 141 passengers and 10 crewmembers was hijacked after leaving Frankfurt September 6. The plane was then flown to Zerqa, a military airfield 20 miles N of Amman. Hijackers from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine released the hostages and blew up the plane September 13.