Pan Am Flight 110
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On December 17, 1973, Pan Am Flight 110 was scheduled to fly from Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport in Rome to Beirut International Airport in Lebanon. At the controls of the 707-321C (registration number N407PA) "Clipper Celestial" were Captain Andy Erbeck, First Officer Bob Davison, First Officer John Parrott, and FEO Kenneth Pfrang.
At approximately 13:00 local time, just as Flight 110 was preparing to taxi, five Palestinian gunmen made their way through the terminal, armed with automatic weapons and grenades. Realizing that some sort of shooting was occurring inside the terminal, Captain Erbeck made an announcement that there was some commotion in the terminal building and for everyone to take cover. As the crew was trying to help the passengers to escape, the gunmen made their way through the tarmac and started throwing phosphorus bombs on the plane[citation needed].
Other gunmen took five Italian hostages into a Lufthansa 737 and killed an Italian customs agent. They later reunited onboard the Lufthansa 737 to escape by forcing the pilot to fly to Beirut. After Lebanon refused to let the plane land, it landed in Athens, where the terrorists demanded the release of two Arab militants. They killed a hostage and threw his body onto the tarmac. The plane flew to Damascus for fuel and food, and then flew to Kuwait where the men released their hostages in return for passage to an unknown destination—probably to the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Thirty-three people were killed and more than twenty-eight people were injured.
The hijackers were all members of the Fatah group; they were eventually arrested and found guilty. Investigations found that Abu Nidal masterminded the attack.
