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Sabena rescue (1972)

When:
May 8, 2024
2024-05-08 00:00:00 2024-05-08 00:00:00 America/New_York Sabena rescue (1972) Sabena Flight 571 was a scheduled passenger flight from Brussels to Israel via Vienna operated by the Belgian national airline, Sabena in 1972. The plane was hijacked by an arab terrorist group. Please refer to event page
Summary: Sabena Flight 571 was a scheduled passenger flight from Brussels to Israel via Vienna operated by the Belgian national airline, Sabena in 1972. The plane was hijacked by an arab terrorist group.

Sabena Flight 571 was a scheduled passenger flight from Brussels to Israel via Vienna operated by the Belgian national airline, Sabena in 1972. The plane was hijacked by an arab terrorist group. The hijackers demanded the release of 315 convicted palestinian terrorists in Israeli jails, otherwise they would explode the airplane with all the passengers inside. Following their instructions, Captain Levy landed the plane at Lod Airport, before the landing whe managed to ask for help to Israel so the rescue operation began: a team led by Ehud Barak and including Benjamin Netanyahu, both future Israeli Prime Ministers, approached the aircraft disguised as aircraft technicians in white coveralls. Two of four terrorists were neutralized, the restant two were arrested. Only one passenger died during the operation.