EgyptAir Flight 648
Encyclopedia
EgyptAir Flight 648 was a Boeing 737-200 airliner, registered SU-AYH, hijacked
on November 23, 1985 by the terrorist organization Abu Nidal
. The subsequent raid on the aircraft by Egypt
ian troops resulted in dozens of deaths, making the hijacking of Flight 648 one of the deadliest such incidents in history. (Incidentally the same aircraft had been diverted by the U.S. Navy a month earlier, after the Achille Lauro
hijacking on October 7.)
-to-Cairo
route. Ten minutes after takeoff, three Palestinian
members of Abu Nidal hijacked the aircraft. The terrorists
, calling themselves the Egypt Revolution, were heavily armed with guns and grenade
s. The terrorist leader, Omar Rezaq
, then proceeded to check all passport
s. It was at this point that an Egyptian Security Service agent aboard opened fire, killing one terrorist instantly before being wounded along with two flight attendants. However, in the exchange of fire the fuselage
was punctured, causing a rapid depressurization. The aircraft was forced to descend to 14000 feet (4,267.2 m) to allow the crew and passengers to breathe.
Libya
was the original destination for the terrorists; however, due to the negative publicity the hijacking would have had if flown to Libya and the fact that the plane did not have enough fuel, Malta
was chosen as a more suitable option. The aircraft was now running dangerously low on fuel, experiencing serious pressurization problems and carrying a number of wounded passengers. However, Maltese authorities still did not give permission for the aircraft to land (the Maltese government had previously refused permission to other hijacked aircraft, such as on September 27, 1982 when an Alitalia
aircraft was hijacked on its way to Italy
). However, the EgyptAir 648 terrorists insisted, and they forced the pilot
, Hani Galal, to land at Luqa Airport. As a last-ditch attempt to stop the landing, the runway lights were switched off, but the pilot still managed to land the damaged aircraft safely.
, and 12 years earlier had successfully resolved a potentially more serious situation when a KLM Boeing 747
landed there under similar circumstances. The Maltese prime minister, Dr. Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici
, rushed to the airport's control tower and assumed responsibility for the negotiations. Aided by an interpreter, he refused to refuel the aircraft and to withdraw the Maltese armed forces which had surrounded the plane until all passengers were released. Eleven passengers and two injured flight attendants were allowed off. However, the hijackers soon started shooting hostages, starting with Tamar Artzi, an Israel
i woman. France
, Britain
and the United States all offered to send anti-hijack forces. Rezaq, the chief hijacker, threatened to kill a passenger every 15 minutes until his demands were met. His next victim was Nitzan Mendelson, another Israeli woman. He then shot three Americans - Patrick Scott Baker, Scarlett Marie Rogenkamp and Jackie Nink Pflug. Of the five passengers shot, Artzi, Pflug and Baker survived.
Mifsud Bonnici was by now under heavy pressure both from the terrorists and from the United States and Egypt, whose ambassadors were at the airport. The non-aligned Maltese government feared that either the Americans or the Israelis would arrive and take control of the area, as the U.S. Naval Air Station Sigonella
was only 20 minutes away. A U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules with an aeromedical evacuation team from Rhein-Main Air Base
(2nd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron) near Frankfurt
, Germany
, and rapid-deploying surgical teams from Wiesbaden Air Force Medical Center were on standby at the U.S. Navy Hospital at Naples
. When the U.S. told Maltese authorities that Egypt had a special forces counterterrorism team trained by the U.S. Delta Force
ready to move in, they were granted permission to come. The Egyptian Al-Sa'iqa (Thunderbolt) unit — Task Force 777, under the command of Major-General Kamal Attia — was flown in, led by four American officers. Negotiations were prolonged as much as possible, and it was agreed that the plane should be attacked on the morning of November 25 when food was to be taken into the aircraft. Soldiers dressed up as caterers would jam the door open and attack that way.
. On the other hand, the Times of Malta, quoting sources at the airport on the day, held that when the hijackers realized that they were being attacked, they lobbed hand grenades into the passenger area, killing people and starting the fire aboard. Both the Egyptian explosives and the hijackers' grenades could have been responsible for the fire and deaths.
The storming of the aircraft killed 56 out of the remaining 88 passengers, two crew members and one terrorist. Only one terrorist — Omar Rezaq, who in fact had survived — still remained undetected by the Maltese government. The terrorist leader, who was injured during the storming of the aircraft, had got rid of his hood and ammunition and pretended to be an injured passenger. Egyptian commandos tracked Rezaq to St. Luke's General Hospital and, holding the doctors and medical staff at gunpoint, entered the casualty ward looking for him. It was not until some of the passengers in the hospital recognized him that he was eventually arrested.
A total of 58 out of the 90 passengers had died by the time the crisis was over.
Rezaq was put on trial in Malta, yet with no anti-terror legislation, he was tried on other charges. There was widespread fear that terrorists would hijack a Maltese plane or carry out a terror attack in Malta as an act of retribution. Rezaq was given a 25-year sentence, of which he served only eight. His release caused a diplomatic incident between Malta and the U.S. because Maltese law strictly prohibited trying a person twice, in any jurisdiction, on charges connected to the same series of events (having wider limitations compared to classic double jeopardy
). Following his immediate expulsion on release, he was nevertheless captured on arrival in Nigeria
. After three months he was handed over to the U.S., brought before a U.S. court and, on October 7, 1996, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a no-parole recommendation.
Mizzi adds:
Mizzi also mentions how Maltese soldiers positioned in the vicinity of the aircraft were equipped with rifles but were not issued ammunition. Furthermore, an Italian secret service report on the incident showed how the fire inside the aircraft was caused by the Egyptian commandos who placed explosives in the aircraft cargo hold - the most vulnerable part of the aircraft, as it held the oxygen tanks which blew up. During the hijacking, only the Socialist Party media and state-controlled television were given information on the incident. Such was the censorship
of the media that the Maltese people first heard of the disaster through RAI TV, when its correspondent Enrico Mentana spoke these infamous words live on the air via a direct phone call: "Parlo da Malta. Qui c'è stato un massacro ..." ("I'm speaking from Malta. Here there's just been a massacre ...") Shortly before this broadcast, a news bulletin on the Maltese national television had erroneously stated that all passengers had been released and were safe.
Decisions taken by the Maltese government drew heavy criticism from overseas. The Greek
government was angered by the outcome of the incident as "it expected the Maltese government to consult it before the commandos went into the attack." Italian Interior Minister Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
queried the Maltese handling of the hijacking and questioned whether Maltese authorities should have tried to stop the plane landing by switching off the runway lights, adding that "not to give landing permission is a crazy risk." He also questioned the Maltese method of negotiations, saying that "a hijacker is not going to suddenly become a saint." The fact that the Egyptian commandos had stormed the aircraft without the authorization of the Maltese government and before special instruments had arrived from Italy to aid the attack showed that the Maltese armed forces had lost complete control of the situation at Luqa Airport.
The United States protested to Malta about the U.S. personnel sent to resolve the issue having been confined to Air Squadron HQ and the U.S. Embassy in Floriana
. The United States had seen the situation as so ‘hot’ that it had ordered a number of U.S. naval ships, including an aircraft carrier, to move toward Malta for contingency purposes.
Five days after the hijacking, evidence emerged of continued Abu Nidal activity on the island. On November 29, the Egyptian Embassy in Malta sent the Maltese Ministry of Foreign Affairs an urgent note saying that "the Egyptian authorities had received information that a terrorist group composed of 5 to 7 persons and belonging to the Abu Nidal Organization were about to arrive in Malta to assassinate Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq, the only surviving terrorist who at the time was under intensive medical care at St. Luke’s Hospital. The Maltese government never produced any detailed report on the incident, with the only comprehensive account available coming from the Italian Secret Service.
EgyptAir now uses Flight 648 on its Riyadh-Cairo route.
, which aired April 13, 2009. She also related details leading to the flight and the attack in her 2001 book, Miles to Go Before I Sleep. The incident was also chronicled in an Interpol Investigates
episode, "Terror in the Skies", aired by the National Geographic Channel
.
Aircraft hijacking
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
on November 23, 1985 by the terrorist organization Abu Nidal
Abu Nidal
Abu Nidal , born Sabri Khalil al-Banna , was the founder of Fatah–The Revolutionary Council , a militant Palestinian group more commonly known as the Abu Nidal Organization...
. The subsequent raid on the aircraft by Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian troops resulted in dozens of deaths, making the hijacking of Flight 648 one of the deadliest such incidents in history. (Incidentally the same aircraft had been diverted by the U.S. Navy a month earlier, after the Achille Lauro
MS Achille Lauro
MS Achille Lauro was a cruise ship based in Naples, Italy. Built between 1939 and 1947 as MS Willem Ruys, a passenger liner for the Rotterdamsche Lloyd. It is most remembered for its 1985 hijacking...
hijacking on October 7.)
The hijacking
On November 23, 1985, Flight 648 took off at 8pm on its AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
-to-Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
route. Ten minutes after takeoff, three Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
members of Abu Nidal hijacked the aircraft. The terrorists
Palestinian political violence
Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence undertaken to further the Palestinian cause. These political objectives include self-determination in and sovereignty over Palestine, the liberation of Palestine and establishment of a Palestinian state, either in place of both Israel and...
, calling themselves the Egypt Revolution, were heavily armed with guns and grenade
Grenade
A grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
s. The terrorist leader, Omar Rezaq
Omar Rezaq
Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq is the only surviving hijacker of EgyptAir Flight 648. He was a member of Abu Nidal. The plane was hijacked by a group of three people...
, then proceeded to check all passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
s. It was at this point that an Egyptian Security Service agent aboard opened fire, killing one terrorist instantly before being wounded along with two flight attendants. However, in the exchange of fire the fuselage
Fuselage
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
was punctured, causing a rapid depressurization. The aircraft was forced to descend to 14000 feet (4,267.2 m) to allow the crew and passengers to breathe.
Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
was the original destination for the terrorists; however, due to the negative publicity the hijacking would have had if flown to Libya and the fact that the plane did not have enough fuel, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
was chosen as a more suitable option. The aircraft was now running dangerously low on fuel, experiencing serious pressurization problems and carrying a number of wounded passengers. However, Maltese authorities still did not give permission for the aircraft to land (the Maltese government had previously refused permission to other hijacked aircraft, such as on September 27, 1982 when an Alitalia
Alitalia
Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A. , in its later stages known as Alitalia - Linee Aeree Italiane S.p.A. in Extraordinary Administration, was the former Italian flag carrier...
aircraft was hijacked on its way to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
). However, the EgyptAir 648 terrorists insisted, and they forced the pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
, Hani Galal, to land at Luqa Airport. As a last-ditch attempt to stop the landing, the runway lights were switched off, but the pilot still managed to land the damaged aircraft safely.
Nationalities
| Nationality | Passengers | Crew | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 6 | 56 | |
| 25 | 0 | 25 | |
| 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 9 | 0 | 9 | |
| 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Total | 88 | 6 | 94 |
Standoff
At first, Maltese authorities were optimistic they could solve the crisis. Malta had good relations with the Arab worldArab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
, and 12 years earlier had successfully resolved a potentially more serious situation when a KLM Boeing 747
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...
landed there under similar circumstances. The Maltese prime minister, Dr. Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici
Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici
Carmelo Bonnici was the Prime Minister of Malta from 1984 to 1987. He is a member of the Labour Party. He studied law at the University of Malta and is known to be an expert in industrial relations law.-Early politics:Mifsud Bonnici was from a family that staunchly supported the Partit...
, rushed to the airport's control tower and assumed responsibility for the negotiations. Aided by an interpreter, he refused to refuel the aircraft and to withdraw the Maltese armed forces which had surrounded the plane until all passengers were released. Eleven passengers and two injured flight attendants were allowed off. However, the hijackers soon started shooting hostages, starting with Tamar Artzi, an Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i woman. France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the United States all offered to send anti-hijack forces. Rezaq, the chief hijacker, threatened to kill a passenger every 15 minutes until his demands were met. His next victim was Nitzan Mendelson, another Israeli woman. He then shot three Americans - Patrick Scott Baker, Scarlett Marie Rogenkamp and Jackie Nink Pflug. Of the five passengers shot, Artzi, Pflug and Baker survived.
Mifsud Bonnici was by now under heavy pressure both from the terrorists and from the United States and Egypt, whose ambassadors were at the airport. The non-aligned Maltese government feared that either the Americans or the Israelis would arrive and take control of the area, as the U.S. Naval Air Station Sigonella
Naval Air Station Sigonella
Naval Air Station Sigonella , "The Hub of the Med", is a U.S. Navy installation at NATO Base Sigonella and an Italian Air Force base in Sicily, Italy. Although a tenant of the Italian Air Force, NAS Sigonella acts as landlord to more than 40 other U.S. commands and activities. It is located west...
was only 20 minutes away. A U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules with an aeromedical evacuation team from Rhein-Main Air Base
Rhein-Main Air Base
Rhein-Main Air Base was a U.S. Air Force / NATO military airbase near the city of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It occupied the south side of Frankfurt International Airport. Its airport codes are discontinued....
(2nd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron) near Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and rapid-deploying surgical teams from Wiesbaden Air Force Medical Center were on standby at the U.S. Navy Hospital at Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
. When the U.S. told Maltese authorities that Egypt had a special forces counterterrorism team trained by the U.S. Delta Force
Delta Force
1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta is one of the United States' secretive Tier One counter-terrorism and Special Mission Units. Commonly known as Delta Force, Delta, or The Unit, it was formed under the designation 1st SFOD-D, and is officially referred to by the Department of Defense...
ready to move in, they were granted permission to come. The Egyptian Al-Sa'iqa (Thunderbolt) unit — Task Force 777, under the command of Major-General Kamal Attia — was flown in, led by four American officers. Negotiations were prolonged as much as possible, and it was agreed that the plane should be attacked on the morning of November 25 when food was to be taken into the aircraft. Soldiers dressed up as caterers would jam the door open and attack that way.
The raid
Without warning, around an hour and a half before the planned time of the raid, the Egyptian commandos attacked the passenger doors and the luggage compartment doors with explosives. Prime Minister Mifsud Bonnici claimed that these unauthorized explosions caused the internal plastic of the plane to catch fire, causing widespread suffocationSuffocation
Suffocation is the process of Asphyxia.Suffocation may also refer to:* Suffocation , an American death metal band* "Suffocation", a song on Morbid Angel's debut album, Altars of Madness...
. On the other hand, the Times of Malta, quoting sources at the airport on the day, held that when the hijackers realized that they were being attacked, they lobbed hand grenades into the passenger area, killing people and starting the fire aboard. Both the Egyptian explosives and the hijackers' grenades could have been responsible for the fire and deaths.
The storming of the aircraft killed 56 out of the remaining 88 passengers, two crew members and one terrorist. Only one terrorist — Omar Rezaq, who in fact had survived — still remained undetected by the Maltese government. The terrorist leader, who was injured during the storming of the aircraft, had got rid of his hood and ammunition and pretended to be an injured passenger. Egyptian commandos tracked Rezaq to St. Luke's General Hospital and, holding the doctors and medical staff at gunpoint, entered the casualty ward looking for him. It was not until some of the passengers in the hospital recognized him that he was eventually arrested.
A total of 58 out of the 90 passengers had died by the time the crisis was over.
Rezaq was put on trial in Malta, yet with no anti-terror legislation, he was tried on other charges. There was widespread fear that terrorists would hijack a Maltese plane or carry out a terror attack in Malta as an act of retribution. Rezaq was given a 25-year sentence, of which he served only eight. His release caused a diplomatic incident between Malta and the U.S. because Maltese law strictly prohibited trying a person twice, in any jurisdiction, on charges connected to the same series of events (having wider limitations compared to classic double jeopardy
Double jeopardy
Double jeopardy is a procedural defense that forbids a defendant from being tried again on the same, or similar charges following a legitimate acquittal or conviction...
). Following his immediate expulsion on release, he was nevertheless captured on arrival in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. After three months he was handed over to the U.S., brought before a U.S. court and, on October 7, 1996, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a no-parole recommendation.
Aftermath and criticism
In his 1989 book Massacre in Malta, John A. Mizzi writes:Mizzi adds:
Mizzi also mentions how Maltese soldiers positioned in the vicinity of the aircraft were equipped with rifles but were not issued ammunition. Furthermore, an Italian secret service report on the incident showed how the fire inside the aircraft was caused by the Egyptian commandos who placed explosives in the aircraft cargo hold - the most vulnerable part of the aircraft, as it held the oxygen tanks which blew up. During the hijacking, only the Socialist Party media and state-controlled television were given information on the incident. Such was the censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
of the media that the Maltese people first heard of the disaster through RAI TV, when its correspondent Enrico Mentana spoke these infamous words live on the air via a direct phone call: "Parlo da Malta. Qui c'è stato un massacro ..." ("I'm speaking from Malta. Here there's just been a massacre ...") Shortly before this broadcast, a news bulletin on the Maltese national television had erroneously stated that all passengers had been released and were safe.
Decisions taken by the Maltese government drew heavy criticism from overseas. The Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
government was angered by the outcome of the incident as "it expected the Maltese government to consult it before the commandos went into the attack." Italian Interior Minister Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro , Italian politician and magistrate, was the ninth President of the Italian Republic from 1992 to 1999, and is currently a senator for life...
queried the Maltese handling of the hijacking and questioned whether Maltese authorities should have tried to stop the plane landing by switching off the runway lights, adding that "not to give landing permission is a crazy risk." He also questioned the Maltese method of negotiations, saying that "a hijacker is not going to suddenly become a saint." The fact that the Egyptian commandos had stormed the aircraft without the authorization of the Maltese government and before special instruments had arrived from Italy to aid the attack showed that the Maltese armed forces had lost complete control of the situation at Luqa Airport.
The United States protested to Malta about the U.S. personnel sent to resolve the issue having been confined to Air Squadron HQ and the U.S. Embassy in Floriana
Floriana
Floriana is a town in Malta, just outside the capital city Valletta. Floriana is the birthplace of many famous Maltese, amongst which the composer of the national anthem, 'L-Innu Malti', Robert Samut; former Bishop of Malta Dom Mauro Caruana, the poet Oliver Friggieri, and Swedish Idol winner...
. The United States had seen the situation as so ‘hot’ that it had ordered a number of U.S. naval ships, including an aircraft carrier, to move toward Malta for contingency purposes.
Five days after the hijacking, evidence emerged of continued Abu Nidal activity on the island. On November 29, the Egyptian Embassy in Malta sent the Maltese Ministry of Foreign Affairs an urgent note saying that "the Egyptian authorities had received information that a terrorist group composed of 5 to 7 persons and belonging to the Abu Nidal Organization were about to arrive in Malta to assassinate Omar Mohammed Ali Rezaq, the only surviving terrorist who at the time was under intensive medical care at St. Luke’s Hospital. The Maltese government never produced any detailed report on the incident, with the only comprehensive account available coming from the Italian Secret Service.
EgyptAir now uses Flight 648 on its Riyadh-Cairo route.
In popular culture
The events of the hijacking were related in an account by American survivor Jackie Nink Pflug, who had been shot in the head, on the Biography Channel television program I Survived...I Survived...
I Survived... is a documentary television series produced by NHNZ that airs on The Biography Channel. The series premiered on March 24, 2008 and airs new episodes Sunday nights. The show allows survivors to explain, in their own words, how they overcame life-threatening circumstances without...
, which aired April 13, 2009. She also related details leading to the flight and the attack in her 2001 book, Miles to Go Before I Sleep. The incident was also chronicled in an Interpol Investigates
Interpol Investigates
Interpol Investigates is an American docudrama television series that premiered on the National Geographic Channel. The program follows Interpol as its members search for clues left behind by culprits.-The Serpent:...
episode, "Terror in the Skies", aired by the National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...
.