Sachin Walls
Airport bombings have occurred in several countries around the world, including the United States. One notable incident of an airport bombing in the US took place on December 29, 1975, at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. A bomb detonated near the TWA baggage reclaim terminal, resulting in 11 fatalities and 74 serious injuries. The investigation into the attack involved 120 NYPD detectives, 600 FBI agents, ATF agents, and Port Authority investigators, yet the crime remains unsolved. Another example is the plot by Algerian Ahmed Ressam to attack Los Angeles International Airport on December 31, 1999, for which he was convicted in 2001. More recently, US planes bombed Tripoli and Benghazi airports in Libya in 1986, in retaliation for a prior bombing.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date | 29 January 1975 |
| Location | LaGuardia Airport, New York City |
| Time | 6:33 p.m. |
| Place | TWA baggage claim area in the central terminal |
| Type of Bomb | TNT or plastic explosives, equivalent to 25 sticks of dynamite |
| Controlled By | Household items such as a Westclox alarm clock and an Eveready 6-volt lantern battery |
| Death Toll | 11 |
| Injuries | Several |
| Perpetrators | No conclusive evidence; possible involvement of the Mafia, the F.A.L.N., the Jewish Defense League, or Zvonko Bušić |
| Impact | Largest criminal investigation in NYPD's history at the time |
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What You'll Learn
LaGuardia Airport bombing, 1975
On December 29, 1975, a bomb detonated near the TWA baggage reclaim terminal at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. The blast killed 11 people and injured 74 others, many of them gravely. The bomb exploded at approximately 6:30 pm, ripping apart a wall of lockers and sending fragments flying across the room. The force of the explosion also blew out the terminal's plate glass windows, injuring several people with shards of glass. The bomb created a 10-by-15-foot hole in the reinforced concrete ceiling of the baggage claim area, and the subsequent fire took over an hour to get under control.
The investigation into the LaGuardia Airport bombing was the largest criminal investigation in the NYPD's history at the time. It involved 120 NYPD detectives, 600 FBI agents, ATF agents, and Port Authority investigators. Investigators determined that the bomb was made of either TNT or plastic explosives and was controlled by household items such as an alarm clock and a lantern battery.
Several groups were initially suspected of carrying out the attack, including the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the Mafia, the F.A.L.N., and the Jewish Defense League. An anonymous caller claimed to be from the PLO and took responsibility for the attack, but the organization denied any involvement and condemned the attack. Investigators also considered the possibility of anti-Yugoslavian Croatian terrorists or agents of the Yugoslavian government itself, intending to discredit the opposition.
To date, the crime remains unsolved. Convicted Croatian ultranationalist and terrorist Zvonko Bušić was considered a person of interest, but he was never charged in the airport bombing and maintained his innocence until his death in 2013.
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Rome and Vienna airports attacked, 1985
On 27 December 1985, two major terrorist attacks were carried out at airports in Rome, Italy, and Vienna, Austria. Seven Arab terrorists from the Abu Nidal Organization attacked the Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport in Rome and the Vienna International Airport in two coordinated strikes, killing 19 people and injuring 138. The first attack occurred at 08:15 GMT when four gunmen opened fire with assault rifles and threw grenades at the shared ticket counter for Israel's El Al Airlines and Trans World Airlines. Sixteen people were killed and 99 were wounded, including American diplomat Wes Wessels, before three of the attackers were killed by El Al security, and the remaining one, Mohammed Sharam, was wounded and captured by the Italian police.
Minutes later, three terrorists carried out a similar attack at Schwechat Airport in Vienna. Hand grenades were thrown into crowds of passengers queuing to check in for a flight to Tel Aviv, killing three people and wounding 39 others. The first response came from several Austrian police officers who opened fire on the terrorists, supported by two plainclothes El Al security guards. The terrorists seized a Mercedes outside the terminal and fled, but Austrian police and El Al security guards gave chase, killing one terrorist and capturing the other two several miles from the airport. Overall, the two attacks killed 19 people, including a child, and wounded around 140.
The surviving terrorist in the Rome airport attack, Syrian national Mahmoud Ibrahim Khaled (Khalid Ibrahim), was sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment in 1988. He was released early on good behavior in June 2010 and was living and working in Rome in 2011. In an interview, he condemned terrorism, expressed remorse for the attacks, and said that he prays for God's forgiveness. In 1987, an Austrian court sentenced the two surviving terrorists in the Vienna airport attack to life imprisonment.
The attacks came after increased security due to recent hijackings and official Interpol warnings that airports might be targeted by terrorists during the holiday season. Italian authorities stated that receipts found on the terrorists indicated that they had entered Italy a few weeks earlier and had stayed in hotels near Rome. They all had Moroccan passports. A note in Arabic was also found on one of the attackers, addressed to "Zionists" and announcing that "the war has begun". The note was reportedly signed, "the martyrs of Palestine". Israeli authorities initially blamed the attacks on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), but its leader, Yasser Arafat, denied the accusations and denounced the strikes. The PLO expressed indignation at the criminal act and asserted that the attacks were coordinated as part of a plot against the Palestinian cause.
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Los Angeles International Airport attack plot, 1999
The Los Angeles International Airport attack plot was a foiled terrorist attempt to bomb the airport on New Year's Eve 1999, as part of the 2000 millennium attack plots. The plot was orchestrated by Ahmed Ressam, a 32-year-old Algerian, who was found guilty of nine criminal counts in connection with the attempt. Ressam was arrested on December 14, 1999, at Port Angeles, Washington, when border guards discovered bomb-making materials in the trunk of his rental car.
Ressam had more than 100 pounds of white powder, later identified as urea sulfate, as well as a nitroglycerine mixture, fusing systems, multiple forms of identification, and maps indicating that he was targeting Los Angeles airport. Further evidence was found in Ressam's motel room, including a map of Los Angeles with three airports circled. Ressam's fingerprints were also found on a date book containing the addresses of firms he used to obtain electronic components and chemicals for manufacturing explosives.
Ressam admitted that he planned to bomb Los Angeles International Airport and that he had attended al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. He was part of a terrorist cell in Canada and had brought $12,000 in cash from Afghanistan to fund the attack. Ressam was initially sentenced to 22 years in prison but this was later extended to 37 years.
The plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport was one of several millennium attack plots linked to al-Qaeda, including plots against four tourist sites in Jordan, the USS The Sullivans, and the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814. Law enforcement agencies foiled the plots in Jordan and against LAX, preventing devastating attacks.
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LaGuardia Airport hoax bomb calls, 1975
On 29 December 1975, a bomb detonated near the TWA baggage reclaim terminal at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. The blast killed 11 people and seriously injured 74 others. Investigators later believed that the equivalent of 25 sticks of dynamite had been placed in a coin-operated locker located next to the baggage carousels.
The bomb blew the lockers apart, sending fragments flying across the room. The force of the explosion ripped a 10-by-15-foot hole in the reinforced concrete ceiling of the baggage claim area. The subsequent fire in the terminal took over an hour to get under control.
The crime remains unsolved, but investigators have several theories about who might have been responsible. Investigators initially believed that anti-Yugoslavian Croatians or agents of the Yugoslavian government itself carried out the attack. This theory was supported by the fact that, less than two years later, a group of Croatian nationalists led by Zvonko Bušić, his wife Julienne, and two others hijacked a TWA flight from LaGuardia Airport. Bušić was sentenced to life imprisonment but was eventually paroled. He maintained that he had no knowledge of the LaGuardia bombing.
Other suggested perpetrators included the Mafia, the Armed Forces of National Liberation (F.A.L.N.), and the Jewish Defense League. However, there was no credible claim of responsibility, leading investigators to believe that the bomb may have been accidental.
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TWA Flight 840 bombing, 1986
On April 2, 1986, at about 1:25 p.m. (local Athens time), a bomb exploded on Trans World Airlines (TWA) Flight 840 as it was on its descent to Ellinikon International Airport in Athens, Greece, from Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport in Rome, Italy. The Boeing 727 airplane was flying over Peloponnesus, a peninsular region that forms southern Greece, when an explosion was heard throughout the cabin. Four American citizens, sitting around seat 10-F, were sucked out of a hole that formed due to the blast under a passenger compartment window at floor level on the fuselage near the right wing. The airplane, with its remaining 111 passengers and seven crew members, was able to land safely at the Athens airport.
The bomb was suspected to have been placed under the seat by a Lebanese woman who was later arrested but never convicted. She was believed to be a member of the Abu Nidal Organisation, a group dedicated to the destruction of the state of Israel. The group had previously bombed and hijacked several aircraft and committed various terrorist attacks in the Middle East.
The formal investigation was conducted by Greece's Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority, with assistance from the United States Federal Aviation Administration, and Italian and Egyptian authorities. Italian Interior Minister Oscar Luigi Scalfaro confirmed that a known Arab terrorist occupied the seat where the bomb exploded, stating that the suspect was on file as a terrorist. Greek police identified the suspect as May Elias Mansur, a Lebanese-born Palestinian woman who may have passed through Greece previously.
An anonymous caller claimed that the pro-Libyan Palestinian group Izzeddin Al-Kassam, a part of the Arab Revolutionary Cells run by Abu Nidal, was responsible for the explosion. The caller stated that the bombing was in retaliation for American missile attacks on Libyan targets due to disputes over the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, there was a bombing at LaGuardia Airport in New York City on December 29, 1975, that killed 11 people and injured 74 others.
Yes, in 1999 there was a plot to attack Los Angeles International Airport on December 31. Algerian Ahmed Ressam was convicted for his role in the plot, and Abdelmajid Dahoumane was arrested for his role.
Yes, in 1986 US planes bombed airports in Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya, in retaliation for the La Belle disco bombing in West Berlin, Germany, which was carried out by Libyan operatives.
