Hemus Air Flight 7081 [SEP] point in time
Hemus Air Flight 7081
Hemus Air Flight 7081 was the hijacking of a Tupolev Tu-154 operated by Hemus Air on 3 September 1996. The incident occurred on-route from Beirut International Airport in Lebanon to Varna Airport in Bulgaria. The hijacker, Palestinian Hazem Salah Abdallah, a defector of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), falsely claimed he had explosives on board. The aircraft landed at Varna at 15:15 UTC+2, where the hijacker exchanged the 149 other passengers for fuel. The aircraft continued to Norway with
the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, killing all 141 on board.
- September 3 – Hemus Air Flight 7081, a Tupolev Tu-154 is hijacked while en route from Beirut, Lebanon to Varna, Bulgaria. After landing in Varna, the 150 passengers are traded for fuel. The plane then flies on to Oslo Gardermoen Airport, Norway, where the hijacker later surrenders.
- October 2 – Aeroperú Flight 603, a Boeing 757, crashes into the ocean off Pasamayo, Peru, because of a maintenance error. All 70