Jet passengers safe after hijack ordeal

Press, 7 April 1984, Page 10

Jet passengers safe after hijack ordeal

NZPA-Reuter Istanbul

All 290 passengers and crew aboard a Saudi airliner escaped virtually unharmed after their plane was hijacked to Istanbul while on a flight from Jeddah to Damascus. Turkish officials said a Syrian armed with a knife was captured after the Saudia Lockheed Tri-Star had stood for two hours surrounded by armoured vehicles and special police squads at Istanbul’s Yesilkoy airport yesterday. They named the man as Hidir Ahmad Mahlesh, aged 28, but did not say why he had hijacked the plane. Officials said a suspected accomplice who concealed himself among the passengers was also being held. Saudi sources in Damascus said the hijacking occurred shortly before the plane was due to land at the Syrian capital. It was diverted to Istanbul where witnesses said it taxied to a spot under the airport control tower and was quickly surrounded by security forces. Officials said Mahlesh had told them he had no dispute with Turkey. He wanted the plane refuelled so it could fly on to Stockholm, but his demands were refused by Turkish authorities.

Accounts of the capture of the hijacker differed. Witnesses said that shortly after 8.30 p.m. Thursday (local time) the plane’s emergency doors swung open and passengers suddenly began fleeing the aircraft on special escape chutes. Police officers at the scene told reporters there was then a struggle between the crew and the armed hijacker on the flight deck. Shortly afterward, the Syrian was pushed out of one of the doors into the arms of waiting police. Officials said two women were slightly hurt as they rushed to escape the plane. Saudi Arabian television said the pilots had overpowered a lone hijacker and handed him over to the Turkish authorities. The Turkish Prime Minister said the incident ended thanks to a Turkish initiative. The Istanbul provincial governor told reporters: “A special security team entered the plane and captured the terrorist.” Witnesses denied earlier reports that shots had been fired during the capture of the armed man. Officials said the plane and its passengers could continue to Damascus after questioning and searches were completed.