Michel Bacos
Michel Bacos (born May 23, 1924 in Egypt , † March 26, 2019 in Nice , France ) was a French pilot . In 1976 he was the captain of the hijacked Air France Flight 139, which was liberated as part of Operation Entebbe .
Life
Bacos' father worked for the Suez Canal Society in Egypt . During the Second World War, Bacos was a member of the Forces françaises libres , for which he was stationed in Morocco as an air force officer.
In the 1960s he flew passenger and cargo planes in the air corridor between West Berlin and destinations in West Germany .
Aircraft hijacking
On June 27, 1976, Bacos was the pilot of Air France flight 139, which was to run from Tel Aviv via Athens to Paris . The Airbus A300 , with a crew of 12 and 258 passengers, was hijacked after take-off in Athens and diverted to Benghazi Airport in Libya . After a stay of more than six hours, the aircraft took off again without Bacos having been informed of the destination. It eventually landed at Entebbe Airport near Kampala, the capital of Uganda .
After non-Jewish and (partly supposed) Jewish passengers had been selected, the majority of the passengers were released. Likewise, the pilots and flight attendants could have left. In his role as flight captain, however, after consulting his crew, Bacos stated that the crew would not be able to leave any passengers behind due to their own responsibility, but would have to stay with the hostages. At least 20 Ugandan soldiers, all seven terrorists, three hostages and one Israeli officer were killed during the liberation by Israeli special forces.
Bacos later compared the first Israeli soldier he saw during the liberation operation to an angel who had descended from heaven.
Further life
After the plane hijacked, Bacos took a two-week vacation and then took the first flight to Tel Aviv at his own request. He retired in 1982.
Bacos described his decision to stay with the hostages in 2006 as a spontaneous and intuitive act of solidarity with the hostages. Later (2016) he added that it was a question of awareness, professionalism and morality. Bacos was named a Knight of the Legion of Honor , the State of Israel, B'nai B'rith, and the American Jewish Committee .
After his death, he was honored by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and by President Reuven Rivlin , who called him a "true friend of the Jewish people". At his funeral on April 2, 2019, the Israeli national anthem was played at his request .
Bacos was married to a German flight attendant and had three sons and numerous grandchildren.
Web links
- Sam Roberts: Michel Bacos, Hero Pilot of Jet Hijacked to Entebbe, Dies at 94. In: New York Times. March 28, 2019, accessed April 19, 2019 .
- Hero pilot who stayed with Entebbe hostages dies. In: bbc.com. March 27, 2019, accessed April 19, 2019 .
- Jacques Tarnero: Disparition d'un héros français: Michel Bacos, le commandant de l'Airbus détourné sur Entebbe. In: crif.org. March 29, 2019, accessed April 19, 2019 .
- The pilote de l'avion Air France détourné dans l'opération Entebbe est mort. Michel Bacos avait raconté à Nice-Mat. In: nicematin.com. March 27, 2019, accessed April 20, 2019 (French).
- Michel Bacos. Mourning for the hero of Entebbe. In: juedische-allgemeine.de March 27, 2019.
Individual evidence
- ^ Annette Vowinckel : Aircraft hijackings: A cultural history . Wallstein , Göttingen 2012 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
- ↑ Entebbe pilot died. In: israelnetz.com. May 10, 2019, accessed May 21, 2019 .
- ↑ L'hymne israélien résonne lors de l'enterrement du pilote Michel Bacos. In: fr.timesofisrael.com. April 8, 2019, accessed May 2, 2019 (French).
- ↑ Vidéo à pleurer: la Hatikva résonne aux obsèques de Michel Bacos. In: lemondejuif.info. April 30, 2019, accessed May 2, 2019 (French).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bacos, Michel |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French pilot |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 3, 1924 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Egypt |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 26, 2019 |
| Place of death | Nice , France |