El Al Pilot Foils Hijacking Attempt with Daring Maneuver

On September 6, 1970, El Al pilot Uri Bar Lev successfully thwarted a hijacking attempt on flight 219 from Amsterdam to New York. Bar Lev's quick thinking and decisive actions prevented the plane, carrying 183 passengers and crew, from falling into the hands of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorists. Two suspected hijackers, Patrick Argüello and Leila Khaled, were identified by Israeli security but managed to board a Pan Am flight after being removed from the El Al flight. Khaled later testified that the weapon was concealed in her open personal basket.

As Bar Lev's Boeing 707 prepared for takeoff, a new directive required a security guard to sit in seat 2C in first class. However, with the first-class cabin occupied by the two suspicious individuals, Bar Lev insisted that the guard, Moty Bar Levav, sit with him in the cockpit, believing they would be the first targets. During the flight, the cockpit alarm sounded, and flight attendant Abraham Eisenberg reported that a hijacker with a pistol and grenade, and a hijacker with two grenades, were at the door demanding entry. Flight attendant Shlomo Weider had already attempted to disarm Argüello and was shot, but managed to re-engage before being fatally wounded.

Recalling his combat pilot training and acrobatic maneuvers, Bar Lev decided to execute a steep climb, a negative G maneuver, to disorient the hijackers. The sudden shift in gravity sent everyone not secured to the floor. Bar Lev's co-pilot, Aviha, then emerged from the cockpit, and along with security guard Moty Bar Levav, subdued Khaled and shot Argüello, who died. Bar Lev then managed the aircraft and communications, including coordinating with another El Al flight to transfer the captured Khaled and the injured Weider to a different plane, ensuring his security guards would not face charges for actions taken on foreign soil.

Weider was taken to intensive care, and Khaled was arrested. Three days later, the PFLP hijacked another plane to secure Khaled's release. Bar Lev's flight was the only one of four targeted that day to escape hijacking. He later reflected that his entire experience had prepared him for that critical moment, which saved hundreds of lives.