The attached photographs are of a pair of improvised grenades based on the No. 36. Both are made from brass and are larger and much heavier than the 36. The grenades were used by Leila Khaled and Patrick Argello in the failed hijack of El Al Flight 219 in 1970.
Khaled is a Palestinian and member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Argello was a Nicaraguan and Sandinista terrorist, who initially trained with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PDFLP) and then was essentially apprenticed to the PFLP
On 6th September 1970 Argello and Khaled, posing as husband and wife, boarded Flight 219 at Amsterdam with the intention of hijacking the aircraft to be part of the Dawsons Field Hijackings. It was at Amsterdam that it all started going wrong for them. There was meant to be another two hijackers, but Israeli security refused them onto aircraft as it was noted that the pair had passports with consecutive issue numbers. Something went horribly wrong here, as the two promptly went and got themselves 1st class tickets on a Pan Am flight, which they subsequently hijacked.
Shortly after takeoff, the two made their move and approached the cockpit and demanded entry. It would appear that unknown to the hijackers, there was an additional member of flight crew namely a Sky Marshall. The pilot briefed the Sky Marshall that he was going put the aircraft in a negative G maneuver which he promptly did causing the hijackers to lose their balance. The exact sequence of what followed is not really clear. However, Argello fired his pistol a number of times which resulted in one of the cabin crew being shot (he subsequently made a full recovery). One of the passengers smashed a bottle of Whiskey over his head and the Sky Marshall shot Argello four times, he died of his injuries. Meanwhile, the other cabin crew and passengers had detained Khaled. At some point during the incident, one of the terrorists had thrown one of the grenades which failed to detonate.
The aircraft landed at Heathrow where Khaled was taken into custody.
As can be seen, these grenades are essentially one-offs and the components are made for that particular unit, being fine tuned as required. It transpired that the evening before the hijackings one of the terrorists had disassembled the grenades to clean them. On re-assembling the grenades, the strikers became transposed. When the grenade was thrown and the striker released, its passage due to irregularities was impeded and notwithstanding that the striker struck the cap and indented it, there was insufficient energy to fire the cap.
TimG
Khaled is a Palestinian and member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Argello was a Nicaraguan and Sandinista terrorist, who initially trained with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PDFLP) and then was essentially apprenticed to the PFLP
On 6th September 1970 Argello and Khaled, posing as husband and wife, boarded Flight 219 at Amsterdam with the intention of hijacking the aircraft to be part of the Dawsons Field Hijackings. It was at Amsterdam that it all started going wrong for them. There was meant to be another two hijackers, but Israeli security refused them onto aircraft as it was noted that the pair had passports with consecutive issue numbers. Something went horribly wrong here, as the two promptly went and got themselves 1st class tickets on a Pan Am flight, which they subsequently hijacked.
Shortly after takeoff, the two made their move and approached the cockpit and demanded entry. It would appear that unknown to the hijackers, there was an additional member of flight crew namely a Sky Marshall. The pilot briefed the Sky Marshall that he was going put the aircraft in a negative G maneuver which he promptly did causing the hijackers to lose their balance. The exact sequence of what followed is not really clear. However, Argello fired his pistol a number of times which resulted in one of the cabin crew being shot (he subsequently made a full recovery). One of the passengers smashed a bottle of Whiskey over his head and the Sky Marshall shot Argello four times, he died of his injuries. Meanwhile, the other cabin crew and passengers had detained Khaled. At some point during the incident, one of the terrorists had thrown one of the grenades which failed to detonate.
The aircraft landed at Heathrow where Khaled was taken into custody.
As can be seen, these grenades are essentially one-offs and the components are made for that particular unit, being fine tuned as required. It transpired that the evening before the hijackings one of the terrorists had disassembled the grenades to clean them. On re-assembling the grenades, the strikers became transposed. When the grenade was thrown and the striker released, its passage due to irregularities was impeded and notwithstanding that the striker struck the cap and indented it, there was insufficient energy to fire the cap.
TimG
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