FAA History Lesson -- June 14

From the FAA Historical Chronology, 1926-1996...

”Jun 14, 1985: Two Lebanese Shiite Moslems hijacked a TWA 727 departing Athens and diverted it to Beirut, where additional hijackers joined them. During a two-week confrontation, they demanded the release of Shiite prisoners held by Israel. The hijackers murdered one passenger, a U.S. Navy diver. They released the other 155 hostages (including 39 Americans) in stages, the last being freed on Jun 30. Lebanese authorities held the aircraft in Beirut until Aug 16.

The TWA hijacking and an upsurge in Middle East terrorism prompted a series of U.S. actions. Events included:

* On Jun 18, President Reagan warned travelers of inadequate security measures at Athens airport. This advisory was lifted on Jul 22, after an FAA inspection found improvements.

* On Jun 23, an Air India jet crashed under mysterious circumstances (see entry for this date below).

* On Jun 27, Transportation Secretary Dole urged the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to act immediately to enhance airport security. The ICAO Council met on an accelerated schedule, and on Dec 19 adopted amendments strengthening international security standards and recommended practices.

* On Jul 1, the President suspended airline travel between U.S. and Lebanon.

* During July, FAA issued an emergency regulatory amendment requiring airlines to carry Federal Air Marshals on certain flights. Eight days later, the agency issued another emergency rule that required airlines to expand security training for crew members and to provide a ground security coordinator and an in-flight security coordinator for every flight.

* Between mid-Aug and early Nov, FAA personnel assisted by law enforcement officers from other agencies inspected U.S. air carrier security procedures at 79 foreign airports.

* FAA also issued a number of emergency amendments to the agency-approved security programs of both airlines and airport operators.

On Aug 8, the President signed the International Security and Development Cooperation Act of 1985. The Act authorized the use of $5 million from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund for research on and development of airport security devices and explosives detection techniques. It also mandated a system for conducting security assessments at foreign airports, and authorized Federal Air Marshals as a permanent FAA workforce. The agency began hiring additional security inspectors and training them to serve as Air Marshals. FAA also reorganized its Office of Civil Aviation Security to reflect its expanded responsibilities under the Act, creating an International Civil Aviation Security Division and an Intelligence Division. (See Aug 5, 1986.) “

I realize this was a long entry so I’ll just say this. There’s a reason the airline pilot sitting in the left seat is called Captain. Think about being in a foreign land with a multi-million dollar piece of equipment and a few hundred people depending on you. The late Captain John Testrake was in command of TWA 847 that fateful day. He had already earned the title. The rest of the world got an idea of what it meant in the next few, long days. If you don’t remember the story, I urge to find out more about it.

Don Brown
June 14, 2008