Hijacked Passengers Head Home
B A G H D A D, Iraq, Oct. 15 -- They had been in the air only two hours when first class passengers noticed a flight attendant emerge from the cockpit with tears in her eyes.
Passengers became more concerned when the “fasten seat belts” warning light failed to go off and the monitor tracking their flight went blank.
London-bound Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 115 had beenhijacked.
But passengers weren’t told this while they were in the air, andthe crew remained so calm that some passengers learned of it onlyafter the plane landed in Baghdad late Saturday after a 7½-hourodyssey that began in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia.
“I first thought we landed at Heathrow in London. But when Ilooked through the window I said to myself, ‘This is not London,’” said Iqbal Dawood from Pakistan, one of the 103 passengers and crew on the flight.
Half an hour after landing, the captain announced to passengersthat the plane had been hijacked and that negotiations were underway.
Glad to Go Home
The two hijacking suspects surrendered without incident inBaghdad.
Passengers and crew from Flight 115 spent the night in Baghdad,then boarded their plane—some running in joy across the tarmac tothe Boeing 777—to leave this evening. A few hours later, theplane landed at Riyadh airport in Saudi Arabia, where passengerswere given bouquets of flowers as they exited.
All but seven of the passengers then boarded another flight forLondon. Six Saudi citizens and the flight’s sole American chose tonot to board the flight.
Suspects Identified
The hijackers released their captives and surrendered Saturday after negotiating with Iraqi officials.
Officials said the hijackers twice threatened to destroy the plane: once in the air and again on the tarmac of Baghdad’s airport.
Speaking to reporters at the airport with the permission of Iraqi officials, the hijackers said they opposed the arch-conservative Saudi monarchy and wanted it abolished. They also said they ordered Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 115 to Iraq because “the Iraqi people are under embargo and because we trust the Iraqis and they will not betray us.”
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