Skyway Robbery

The hijacking of U.S. airliners for unscheduled trips to Cuba has become so commonplace that a virtually automatic routine has evolved for the prompt release of planes and passengers. The matter was far more serious last week when three well-dressed Arab passengers seized Israel's El Al Flight 426 an hour out of Rome and forced it to divert its course from Tel Aviv to Algiers. What the Arabs wanted from their skyway robbery was not a free trip but bounty and hostages to use against Israel.

One of the hijackers, a swarthy man who had evidently had flying experience, opened the unlocked door to the flight deck, clubbed Copilot Maoz Poraz with the butt of his pistol, and slid into a seat behind Captain Oded Abarbanel, ordering a change of course to Algiers. Back in the cabin, his two accomplices brandished pistols and hand grenades in order to keep the frightened passengers in their seats.

When the big Boeing 707 touched down at Algiers' Dar-el-Beida airport, Algerian authorities impounded the plane. Next day they sent all passengers identified as non-Israelis to France on Air Algerie Caravelle jets after treating the detoured travelers well and giving them a sightseeing trip around Algiers. Twelve Israeli passengers and the crew of ten were held along with the plane, possibly as hostages for hundreds of Arab guerrillas currently in Israeli custody, though ten women and children were released at week's end. The hijackers were quickly identified as Palestinian Arab commandos attached to the Jordan-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. They were equipped with Iranian and Indian passports.

Israel at once started dealing through diplomatic channels for the return of the plane, its male Israeli passengers and crew. It may take a while. Algeria formally declared war on Israel a year ago and rejected the cease-fire that ended the six-day Arab-Israeli conflict. Because El Al carried military cargo in the war, Algeria considers it a paramilitary organization. Furthermore, there is local precedent for long detention of unexpected guests. When a private plane carrying former Congolese Premier Moise Tshombe was hijacked to Algiers in June of last year, the Algerians took three months to release the pilots and eight months to free the plane. Tshombe himself is still being held.

If diplomatic efforts fail, Israeli retaliation seems inevitable. Israel has often mounted punitive raids to redress alleged Arab wrongdoing. Air Algerie flights call regularly at Cairo, which is not far from Israeli airspace. It would be a relatively simple matter for Israeli fighter-interceptors to force one to land at Tel Aviv for use as a bargaining weapon.

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