Pan Am Flight 73

Pan Am Flight 73 was a flight that was hijacked on September 5, 1986 by four armed men of the Abu Nidal organization. The Boeing 747 aircraft departing from Karachi International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan en route to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, New York carried some 379 people. At least twenty people were killed during the hijacking, including citizens of the United States, Pakistan, India and Mexico.

The incident began as passengers were boarding the aircraft for a flight that had originated in Bombay, India, and was scheduled to fly to Frankfurt, Germany, en route to New York. On the day of the hijacking, the hijackers were dressed as Karachi airport security guards and armed with assault rifles, pistols, grenades and plastic explosive belts. At approximately 6:00 a.m. local time, the hijackers drove a van that had been modified to look like an airport security vehicle through a security checkpoint at the Karachi airport, without challenge, and drove up to one of the stairways being used to board passengers for Pan Am Flight 73.

Over the next approximately 16 hours, Safarini, as the leader of the hijackers on board the aircraft, demanded the return of a flight crew to fly the aircraft to Larnaca, Cyprus, where Safarini and his fellow hijackers wanted to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners being detained in Cyprus. During the course of negotiations between Safarini and Pakistani authorities, Safarini threatened to kill all of the passengers.

Within a short time after seizing control of the aircraft, Safarini ordered the flight attendants to collect the passports of passengers. The flight attendants complied with this request but, risking their own lives, they surreptitiously declined to collect some of the United States passports and hid other United States passports from the hijackers. After the passports had been collected, Safarini walked through the cabin of the aircraft, asking passengers about their nationalities. When he arrived at the seat of Rajesh Kumar, a 29-year-old California resident who had recently been naturalized as an American citizen, Safarini ordered Mr. Kumar to come to the front of the aircraft, to kneel at the front doorway of the aircraft and to face the front of the aircraft with his hands behind his head. At approximately 10:00 a.m., Safarini became angry about the delay in complying with his demand for a new flight crew and he threatened that he would shoot Mr. Kumar if something was not done within 15 minutes. Shortly thereafter, Safarini grabbed Mr. Kumar and shot him in the head in front of witnesses both on and off the aircraft. Safarini then heaved Mr. Kumar out of the door onto the tarmac below. Pakistani personnel on the tarmac reported that Mr. Kumar was still breathing when he was placed in an ambulance, but he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a hospital in Karachi.

As the hours wore on and nightfall came, the lights on the aircraft began to dim and flicker, due to a mechanical failure. At Safarini's instruction, the hijackers herded the passengers and crew members into the center section of the aircraft. Safarini and one other hijacker positioned themselves in front of the crowd of passengers in the right and left aisles, while the two other hijackers positioned themselves behind the crowd of passengers and crew in the right and left aisles. On Safarini's signal, after the hijackers recited a martyrdom prayer in Arabic, and after the lights on the aircraft had gone out, the four hijackers opened fire on the assembled passengers and crew, throwing hand grenades into the crowd and spraying the trapped passengers with automatic weapons fire, attempting to kill as many passengers and crew members as possible. At least 20 additional passengers and crew were killed during this final deadly assault, including a second United States citizen, 50-year-old Surendra Patel, the father of three children, two of whom were next to him on the aircraft when he was shot. Scores of other passengers were injured. Most of the surviving passengers and crew, including 76 United States citizens, escaped through two doors of the plane which were forced open by heroic passengers and flight attendants when the firing began. Many passengers and crew were forced to jump from the wing of the aircraft onto the tarmac in order to escape the hijackers.

In late 2001 the leader of the Palestinian hijackers, Zayd Hassan Abd Al-Latif Masud Al Safarini, was captured in Pakistan and taken to the United States, where he has since been sentenced to a 160 year prison term. (in 2004)

At the plea proceeding, Safarini admitted that he and his fellow hijackers committed the offenses charged in this case as members of the Abu Nidal Organization, also called the ANO, a foreign terrorist organization. Safarini and the other hijackers were initially prosecuted in Pakistan and convicted of numerous crimes resulting from the hijacking. Safarini served 15 years in prison in Pakistan before being released by Pakistani authorities and then apprehended by United States law enforcement personnel in late September 2001.

Significant Events

• September 5, 1986 - Hijacking of Pan Am flight #73 in Karachi, Pakistan. Twenty people killed, more than 100 injured.

• 1988 - Five men are convicted in Pakistan for their roles in the hijacking. Each is sentenced to death. These sentences are later commuted to life sentences.

• August 29, 1991 - A 126-count indictment is returned under seal (i.e., in secret) by a grand jury in the District of Columbia.

• Spring 2000 - Officials in Pakistan begin making public statements that the jail terms of the hijackers will soon expire.

• June 19, 2000 - The federal court in the District of Columbia grants the government's request to unseal the indictment, thereby making public the pending criminal charges in the United States.

• September 28, 2001 - Zaid Hassan Abd Latif Safarini, one of the men convicted in Pakistan for his role in the hijacking of Pan Am flight 73, is captured by the FBI shortly after he was released from jail by Pakistan. The other four defendants convicted in connection with the hijacking remain in jail in Pakistan.

• October 1, 2001 - Defendant Safarini is brought before a federal judge in Anchorage, Alaska, where he is ordered to be held and transported to the District of Columbia to face the charges pending against him.

• October 2, 2001 - Defendant Safarini is arraigned before Judge Emmet G. Sullivan in the District of Columbia and pleads not guilty to each of the counts in the indictment. Defendant Safarini will be held in prison pending trial.

• November 7, 2001 - The Court finds that, due to the complexity of the case, it would be unreasonable to expect the parties to prepare for trial within the time limits established by the Speedy Trial Act (usually 70 days). The Court finds that the ends of justice will be served by allowing the parties additional time to prepare for trial. Similar findings are made by the Court on May 3, 2002, and again on November 1, 2002.

• August 28, 2002 - A 95-count superseding indictment is returned by a grand jury in the District of Columbia, charging defendant Safarini and four co-defendants. These charges will serve as the basis for the upcoming criminal trial of defendant Safarini.

External links

• Hijacking of PanAm Flight 73 Information on court proceedings of Pam Am Flight # 73 (http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/dc/Victim_Witness_Assistance/Pan_Am_73.html)