Pan Am Flight 73: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Pan Am Flight 73 was a flight that was hijacked on September 5, 1986 by four armed men of the Abu Nidal terrorist 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, including several dozen Americans.

As Pakistani security forces stormed the plane, hijackers shot the passengers and threw grenades on the plane. 22 passengers, including 2 Americans were killed, and 150 were wounded. The four terrorists were captured and given prison sentences in Pakistan; however, they were later released. 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)