Hijackers refuel at Karachi

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34127, 13 April 1976, Page 22

Hijackers refuel at Karachi

'.V.Z. Press Assn —CapyrighU KARACHI (Pakistan) April 12.

A Philippine Air Lines DCB airliner, carrying three armed Filipino Moslems and 10 host-

ages, landed at Karachi and refuelled, but three hours later there was no definite word when it would take off again.

Airport sources said the delay could indicate that the hijackers were still waiting clearance for their next destination. They said the plane with full tanks could reach Libya without another refuelling stop. Karachi Airport authorities had initially refused permission for the plane to land, but later reversed their decision when the pilot reported being low on fuel. A little more than two hours after the plane took off from Bangkok, the pilot radioed to the Calcutta Airport control tower that he planned to make his first stop at Karachi despite an apparent refusal from Pakistani authorities to permit the aircraft to land. “No other alternative but to attempt to land at Karachi,” the pilot’s message said.

With them on the longrange DCB airliner were two hostages and eight crew members, and a $300,000ransom they had collected in Manila.