Sabena Flight 571
Israeli soldiers rescuing hostages on the plane | |
| Hijacking | |
|---|---|
| Date | 8 May 1972 |
| Summary | Hijacking |
| Site | Tel Aviv-Lod International Airport, Lod, Israel 32°00′34″N 34°52′37″E / 32.0094°N 34.8769°E |
| Aircraft | |
| The aircraft involved in the incident, seen on 7 June 1976 | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 707-329C |
| Operator | Sabena |
| Registration | OO-SJG |
| Flight origin | Brussels Airport, Brussels, Belgium |
| Stopover | Vienna International Airport, Vienna, Austria |
| Destination | Lod Airport, Tel Aviv, Israel |
| Passengers | 94 (inc. 4 hijackers) |
| Crew | 7 |
| Fatalities | 3 (1 passenger, 2 hijackers) |
| Injuries | 3 (2 passengers, 1 commando) |
| Survivors | 98 (inc. 2 hijackers) |
Sabena Flight 571 was a scheduled passenger flight from Brussels to Tel Aviv via Vienna, operated by the Belgian national airline, Sabena. On 8 May 1972, a Boeing 707 passenger aircraft operating that service, captained by British pilot Reginald Levy, DFC, was hijacked by four members of the Black September Organization, a Palestinian terrorist group. Following their instructions, Captain Levy landed the plane at Lod Airport (later Ben Gurion International Airport). The hijackers demanded that Israel release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the hostages. The standoff was ended by an Israeli commando raid in which all of the hijackers were killed or captured.