Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708
	An identical Boeing 720-060B from Ethiopian Airlines
Accident summary
Accident type	foiled kidnapping, hand grenade explosion in the passenger cabin
place	Airspace north of Addis Ababa , Ethiopia
date	December 8, 1972
Fatalities	7th
Survivors	87
Injured	9
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 720-060B
operator	Ethiopian Airlines
Mark	unknown
Departure airport	Addis Ababa Airport , Ethiopia
1. Stopover	Asmara Airport , Ethiopia;
2. Stopover	Athens-Ellinikon Airport , Greece
3. Stopover	Rome Fiumicino Airport , Italy
Destination airport	Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport , France;
	Lists of aviation accidents

The Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708 (flight number ET708 ) was an international scheduled flight of Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa to Paris via Asmara , Athens and Rome . On December 8, 1972, a serious incident occurred on this flight when seven members of the Eritrean Liberation Front tried to hijack a Boeing 720-060B. In the course of an exchange of fire, the seven kidnappers were killed, but a hand grenade exploded in the passenger cabin. The machine was nevertheless able to be safely landed by the pilots.

plane

The aircraft involved in the accident was a Boeing 720-060B. The aircraft registration number of the machine is not known. The machine was assembled at the Boeing plant in Renton , Washington state , and delivered new to Ethiopian Airlines . The four- engined narrow -body aircraft was equipped with two Pratt & Whitney JT3D-1 engines.

Flight plan

The machine was to be used on a scheduled intercontinental flight from Addis Ababa to Paris . After taking off from Addis Ababa Airport , the plane was initially supposed to fly to Asmara Airport (today the capital airport of Eritrea ) within Ethiopia . The next stop was planned at Athens-Ellinikon Airport and finally another at Rome-Fiumicino Airport before the plane was supposed to fly to its destination Paris Charles de Gaulle . The incident occurred on the first leg of the route.

Sequence of events

The plane took off from Addis Ababa Airport on schedule and began to climb. When the Boeing reached its cruising altitude of 29,000 feet (8,839 meters), seven hijackers, including six men and one woman, rose from their seats with handguns drawn. The six accompanying flight security attendants intervened and tried to get the situation under control. An exchange of fire broke out in the aircraft's cabin, in the course of which one of the kidnappers drew a hand grenade, pulled the locking pin and threw it into the passenger compartment. The university professor Dr. Temple University's Roderick Hilsinger, who was rolling toward him, picked up the grenade and hurled it into an area of the cabin where the seats weren't occupied. The hand grenade exploded and tore a hole in the cabin floor.

Some control systems located below the cabin hallway were damaged in the explosion. The pilots managed to return to and safely land at Addis Ababa Airport. The mild outcome of the incident was ultimately also attributed to the fact that the explosion did not result in an explosive decompression .

The flight safety attendants shot six of the seven hijackers in the air. Another kidnapper was wounded and died in hospital from his injuries. There were a total of nine injured. Dr. Roderick Hilsinger and four other passengers suffered serious injuries from the hand grenade explosion. Two flight safety attendants and two flight attendants were also injured in the exchange of fire.

context

The kidnappers belonged to the Eritrean Liberation Front . The kidnapping attempt took place in connection with the Eritrean War of Independence .

swell

Accident report B-707-060B on flight ET708 , Aviation Safety Network , accessed on November 20, 2019.
7 Hijackers Killed on Ethiopian Airliner , New York Times, December 9, 1972.
Six Ethiopian Hijackers Shot , Desert Sun, December 8, 1972.
No decompression , Flight International June 13, 1974, p. 754.
Mid Air Shooting , Flight International December 14, 1972, p. 854.