Iraqi Airways Flight 163

An Iraqi Airways Boeing 737-200 similar to the one involved
Hijacking summary
Date	December 25, 1986
Type	Hijacking, explosion in cockpit leading to crash
Site	Arar, Saudi Arabia
Passengers	91
Crew	15
Injuries	Unknown
Fatalities	63
Survivors	43
Aircraft type	Boeing 737-270C
Operator	Iraqi Airways
Tail number	YI-AGJ
Flight origin	Saddam International Airport, Baghdad, Iraq
Destination	Queen Alia International Airport, Amman, Jordan

Iraqi Airways Flight 163 was a Boeing 737-270C, registered YI-AGJ, that was hijacked in 1986. On 25 December 1986, en route from Baghdad's Baghdad International Airport to Amman, Jordan, Flight 163 was hijacked by four men. Iraqi Airways security personnel tried to stop the hijackers, but a hand grenade was detonated in the passenger cabin, forcing the crew to initiate an emergency descent. Another hand grenade exploded in the cockpit, causing the aircraft to crash near Arar, Saudi Arabia where it broke in two and caught fire.

There were 106 people on board, and 60 passengers and 3 crew members died. The surviving passengers were able to tell authorities what transpired on the aircraft. The hijacking was one of the deadliest ever, and was one of many in 1985 and 1986.

Shortly after the hijacking, the pro-Iranian group "Islamic Jihad" (a widely used name for Hezbollah) claimed responsibility. One of the dead hijackers was later identified by the Central Intelligence Agency as a Lebanese national named Ribal Khalil Jallul, whose passport photo was matched to a Hezbollah martyr poster found near a mosque in Beirut.^[1] Iraq accused Iran of being behind the attack.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• List of aircraft hijackings
• Lists of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners
• Air safety

[edit] External links

• Hijacking description at the Aviation Safety Network

v • d • e ← 1985 Aviation accidents and incidents in 1986 1987→ Space Shuttle Challenger disaster (January 28) — Mexicana Flight 940 (March 31) — TWA Flight 840 (April 2) — Hindawi affair (April 17) — Air Lanka Flight 512 (May 3) — Aeroméxico Flight 498 (August 31) — Pan Am Flight 73 (September 5) — Mozambican Tupolev Tu-134 crash (October 19) — British International Helicopters Chinook crash (November 6) — Iraqi Airways Flight 163 (December 25) Bold indicates incidents resulting at least 50 deaths (current article is always in bold) Orange color indicates the deadliest incident in 1986

This article about a suspected action, victim, or hostage of a paramilitary organization is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e