Real-Life Thriller

The 168 passengers aboard Lufthansa Flight 649 from New Delhi to Athens had just settled down to watch the latest James Bond flick, Diamonds Are Forever, when they were suddenly launched into a real-life thriller. Five Arabs, waving pistols and grenades, commandeered the 747 in the name of a hitherto unknown Palestinian guerrilla group called the "Organization of Victims of Zionist Occupation."

Among the passengers was Joseph P. Kennedy III, 19, eldest son of the late Senator Robert Kennedy. Young Joe, who was returning home from Bangladesh, was whacked on the shoulder when he neglected to keep his hands in the air. "It was awfully scary," he later told newsmen.

Obeying the guerrillas' order, Captain Erwin Zollner landed at Aden in the People's Democratic Republic of South Yemen. There the guerrillas freed women and children and 16 hours later the 118 male passengers. The 14 crew members, however, were held for two days while the airline concluded a ransom agreement.

Eventually, Lufthansa--or the West German government, which owns 74% of its stock--paid $5,000,000. "Had it been only the plane, I wouldn't have given a penny," said West German Transport Minister Georg Leber afterward. By paying the blackmail, though, Leber had established a rather ominous precedent.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.