TWA Flight 840 bombing - Misplaced Pages

1986 airliner bombing For the earlier hijacking of TWA Flight 840, see TWA Flight 840 hijacking.

TWA Flight 840
Bombing
The aircraft involved in the incident, seen in 1997
Date	April 2, 1986
Summary	Bombing
Site	Argos, Greece
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 727-231
Operator	Trans World Airlines
Registration	N54340
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
Crew	7
Fatalities	4
Injuries	7
Survivors	118

Trans World Airlines Flight 840 was a regularly scheduled international 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 dead were identified as Alberto Ospino, a Colombian-born American from Stratford, Conn.; Demetra Stylian, 52; her daughter, Maria Klug, 25, and her granddaughter, Demetra, 18 months old, all from Annapolis, Md. The aircraft then made a successful emergency landing with no further loss of life.

Aircraft

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

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. 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). 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.

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. 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 was not as catastrophic as it would have been at a higher altitude. The remaining 110 passengers survived the incident as pilot Richard "Pete" Petersen made an emergency landing.

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.

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.

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

Investigation

Investigators concluded that the bomb contained one pound of plastic explosive. As the bomb was placed on 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. They had previously hijacked and bombed several other aircraft, as well as committing various terrorist attacks in parts of the Middle East.

References

"FAA Registry (N54340)". Federal Aviation Administration.
^ Smith, William E.; Borrell, John; Gondicas, Mirka (1986-04-14). "Terrorism Explosion on Flight 840". Time. Archived from the original on May 10, 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
"On This Day - 1986: Bomb tears hole in airliner over Greece". BBC News. BBC. 1986-04-02. Retrieved 1 September 2010.
"TWA Pilot's Wife Says Her Husband is a Hero With PM-Plane-Bomb Bjt". AP News. Associated Press. 3 April 1986. Archived from the original on 8 September 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
^ "Aircraft N54340 Data". Retrieved 1 April 2018.
"FAA Registry". Archived from the original on 2 April 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
^ Suro, Roberto (1986-04-03). "4 killed as bomb rips T.W.A plane on way to Athens". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2 April 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
"TWA bombing survivor and author tells stories of second chances". 26 June 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
"Bomb Blast On Airliner Kills 4 Jet Lands Safely In Greece". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 727-231 N54340 Argos". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
"Abu Nidal Organization (ANO)". mackenzieinstitute.com. 11 December 2015. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
"Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) attacked Airports & Airlines target (Apr. 2, 1986, Italy)". MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base. April 3, 2001. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved August 26, 2012.

External links

Portals:

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

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1986 (1986)
Jan 18 Aerovías Caravelle crashJan 28 VASP Flight 210Feb 16 China Airlines Flight 2265Mar 2 Aeroflot Flight F-77Mar 31 Mexicana de Aviación Flight 940Apr 2 TWA Flight 840Apr 5 Ljósufjöll air crashApr 17 Hindawi affairMay 3 Air Lanka Flight 512May 3 China Airlines Flight 334Jun 18 Grand Canyon National Park collisionJul 2 Aeroflot Flight 2306Aug 3 LIAT Flight 319Aug 16 Sudan Airways Fokker F-27 shootdownAug 31 Aeroméxico Flight 498Sep 5 Pan Am Flight 73Oct 5 Corporate Air Services HPF821Oct 19 Mozambican Tupolev Tu-134 crashOct 20 Aeroflot Flight 6502Oct 26 Thai Airways International Flight 620Nov 6 British Int'l Helicopters Chinook crashNov 17 Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628Dec 12 Aeroflot Flight 892Dec 25 Iraqi Airways Flight 163
1985 ◄ ► 1987

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1986 (1986)

Jan 18 Aerovías Caravelle crashJan 28 VASP Flight 210Feb 16 China Airlines Flight 2265Mar 2 Aeroflot Flight F-77Mar 31 Mexicana de Aviación Flight 940Apr 2 TWA Flight 840Apr 5 Ljósufjöll air crashApr 17 Hindawi affairMay 3 Air Lanka Flight 512May 3 China Airlines Flight 334Jun 18 Grand Canyon National Park collisionJul 2 Aeroflot Flight 2306Aug 3 LIAT Flight 319Aug 16 Sudan Airways Fokker F-27 shootdownAug 31 Aeroméxico Flight 498Sep 5 Pan Am Flight 73Oct 5 Corporate Air Services HPF821Oct 19 Mozambican Tupolev Tu-134 crashOct 20 Aeroflot Flight 6502Oct 26 Thai Airways International Flight 620Nov 6 British Int'l Helicopters Chinook crashNov 17 Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628Dec 12 Aeroflot Flight 892Dec 25 Iraqi Airways Flight 163

1985 ◄ ► 1987

Trans World Airlines

History

Accidents and incidents

1931 Transcontinental & Western Air Fokker F-10 crash
Flight 6 (1935)
Flight 1 (1936)
Flight 15A (1937)
1938 Yosemite TWA crash
Flight 3 (1942)
Flight 277 (1944)
Flight 513 (1946)
Flight 6963 (1946)
Flight 903 (1950)
1955 Cincinnati mid-air collision
Flight 260 (1955)
Flight 400 (1956)
1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision
Flight 891 (1959)
1960 New York mid-air collision
Flight 529 (1961)
Flight 800 (1964)
1965 Carmel mid-air collision
Flight 553 (1967)
Flight 159 (1967)
Flight 128 (1967)
TWA Flight 840 hijacking (1969)
Dawson's Field hijackings (1970)
Flight 742 (1973)
Flight 841 (1974)
Flight 514 (1974)
Flight 355 (1976)
Flight 541 (1978)
Flight 841 (1979)
Flight 847 (1985)
Flight 840 bombing (1986)
Flight 843 (1992)
Flight 427 (1994)
Flight 800 (1996)

Services

Destinations

Corporate affairs

This list is incomplete

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Greece
1960s	El Al Flight 253 attack (December 1968) Olympic Airways Flight 954 (December 1969)
1970s	Olympic Airways Flight 255 hijacking (July 1970) Lufthansa Flight 303 hijacking (December 1973) Olympic Airways Flight 830 (November 1976) Olympic Airways Flight 411 (August 1978) Swissair Flight 316 (October 1979)
1980s	Trans World Airlines Flight 847 (June 1985) TWA Flight 840 bombing (April 1986) Olympic Aviation Flight 545 (August 1989)
1990s	Aerosvit Flight 241 (December 1997)
2000s	Malév Flight 262 (July 2000) Helios Airways Flight 522 (August 2005) Turkish Airlines Flight 1476 (October 2006)
2020s	Meridian Flight 3032 (July 2022)
See List of aviation accidents and incidents in Greece Crashes in water near Greece: Cyprus Airways Flight 284 (October 1967) · TWA Flight 841 (September 1974)

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