avia.wikisort.org - Event

Trans World Airlines Flight 840 was a regularly scheduled flight from Los Angeles to Cairo via New York City, Rome, and Athens on April 2, 1986. About 20 minutes before landing in Athens, a bomb was detonated on the aircraft while it was over Argos, Greece, blasting a hole in the plane's starboard side. Four passengers died after being blown out, while another seven were injured by flying shrapnel and debris. The aircraft then made a successful emergency landing with no further loss of life.[4]

TWA Flight 840

The aircraft involved in the incident, seen in 1997
Bombing
Date	April 2, 1986
Summary	Bombing
Site	Argos, Greece
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 727-231
Operator	Trans World Airlines
Registration	N54340[1]
Flight origin	Los Angeles International Airport
1st stopover	John F. Kennedy International Airport
2nd stopover	Leonardo da Vinci Int'l Airport
3rd stopover	Athens (Ellinikon) Int'l Airport
Destination	Cairo International Airport
Passengers	115[2]
Crew	7[2]
Fatalities	4
Injuries	7[3]
Survivors	118[2]

Aircraft

The Boeing 727-231 involved in the incident was delivered to TWA in 1974, with the registration N54340.[5][6] It was fitted with 3 P&W JT8D-5 turbofan engines.[5]

Flight

The flight originated in Los Angeles on a Boeing 747 and transferred to a Boeing 727 in Rome for the remainder of the flight.[7] After taking off from Rome, Italy, the flight remained uneventful until around 20 minutes before landing at Athens, when the aircraft was at around 11,000 feet (3,400 m).[8] A bomb hidden underneath seat 10F during an earlier leg of the flight detonated, blasting a hole in the starboard side of the fuselage in front of the wing.[7]

Four American passengers, including an eight-month-old infant, were ejected through the hole to their deaths below. The victims were identified as a Colombian-American man; and a woman, her daughter, and her infant granddaughter.[7] Seven others on the aircraft were injured by shrapnel as the cabin suffered a rapid decompression. However, as the aircraft was in the middle of its approach to Athens, the explosion wasn't as catastrophic as it would have been at a higher altitude.[7] The remaining 110 passengers survived the incident as pilot Richard "Pete" Petersen made an emergency landing.[7]

Aftermath

The bodies of three of the four victims were later recovered from an unused Greek Air Force landing strip near Argos; the fourth was found in the sea.[7]

A group calling itself the Arab Revolutionary Cells claimed responsibility, saying it was committed in retaliation for American imperialism and clashes with Libya in the Gulf of Sidra the week before.[9]

The aircraft was substantially damaged but was repaired and returned to service until TWA ceased operations in 2001. The aircraft was later scrapped in 2002[10]

Investigation

Investigators concluded that the bomb contained one pound of plastic explosive. As the bomb was placed on by the floor of the cabin, the explosion tore a hole downward, where the fuselage absorbed the most damage. It is suspected it had been placed beneath the seat on a previous journey by a Lebanese woman (later arrested, never convicted) who worked for the Abu Nidal Organisation, which was dedicated to the destruction of the state of Israel.[11] They had previously hijacked and bombed several other aircraft, as well as committing various terrorist attacks in parts of the Middle East.[12]

See also

• Daallo Airlines Flight 159 - Similar incident in which a suicide bomber detonated a bomb on board, whereafter the plane managed to make a successful emergency landing
• Philippine Airlines Flight 434 - A 747 where a bomb went off, followed by a successful emergency landing
• Pan Am Flight 830 - Another 747 that landed safely after a bomb exploded
• United Airlines Flight 811 - Experienced an explosion after the cargo door opened in mid-flight, causing several passengers to be blown out of the aircraft
• List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft

References

External links

• "Hell on Athens Flight 840" by Nancy Locke Hauser (now Capers), July 1986, Cosmopolitan Magazine

На других языках

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[de] Trans-World-Airlines-Flug 840

Auf dem Trans-World-Airlines-Flug 840 ereignete sich am 2. April 1986 ein schwerer Zwischenfall an Bord einer Boeing 727-231 der Trans World Airlines, als 20 Minuten vor der Zwischenlandung in Athen eine Bombe explodierte, wodurch vier Passagiere ums Leben kamen und sieben weitere verletzt wurden. Die schwer beschädigte Maschine konnte sicher auf dem Flughafen Athen-Ellinikon gelandet werden. Der Anschlag wurde später der Abu-Nidal-Organisation zugeschrieben.

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- [en] TWA Flight 840 bombing

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[it] Volo TWA 840 (1986)

Il volo Trans World Airlines 840 era un volo di linea regolare da Los Angeles al Cairo con scalo a New York, Roma e Atene il 2 aprile 1986. Circa 20 minuti prima dell'atterraggio ad Atene esplose una bomba a bordo del Boeing 727 mentre sorvolava Argo, aprendo un buco nel lato di dritta. Quattro passeggeri morirono nell'esplosione, mentre altri 7 rimasero feriti da schegge volanti e detriti. L'aereo effettuò con successo un atterraggio d'emergenza senza ulteriori perdite di vite umane.[3]

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[ru] Взрыв Boeing 727 над Аргосом

Происшествие с Boeing 727 над Аргосом — авиационное происшествие в результате теракта, произошедшее 1 апреля 1986 года[1][2]. Авиалайнер Boeing 727-231 авиакомпании Trans World Airlines (TWA) выполнял плановый межконтинентальный рейс TW840 по маршруту Лос-Анджелес—Нью-Йорк—Рим—Афины—Каир, но при подлёте к Афинам на его борту взорвалось СВУ, образовавшее дыру в фюзеляже лайнера. Экипаж смог посадить самолёт в аэропорту Афин. Из находившихся на его борту 121 человека (115 пассажиров и 7 членов экипажа) погибли 4, ещё 7 получили ранения[1][2][3][4].

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