PHILIPPINES: TWO FILIPINO HIJACKERS SURRENDER AFTER HOLDING 219 PEOPLE HOSTAGE FOR 11 HOURS AT MANILA AIRPORT.

Record ID: 631578

  • Title: PHILIPPINES: TWO FILIPINO HIJACKERS SURRENDER AFTER HOLDING 219 PEOPLE HOSTAGE FOR 11 HOURS AT MANILA AIRPORT.
  • Date: 7th January 1976
  • Summary: 1. GV Control Towe PAN TO aircraft on tarmac. 0.03 2. CU Windows of aircraft. 0.08 3. GV NIGHTSHOT Aircraft on tarmac. 0.10 4. CU Windows of aircraft. 0.13 5. GV Airport officials up steps onto aircraft as newsmen watch. (2 shots) 0.16 6. GV Passengers off aircraft and onto buses and driven away. (2 shots) 0.29 7. CU Release
  • Embargoed: 22nd January 1976 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MANILA: PHILIPPINES
  • Country: Philippines
  • Reuters ID: LVA7RIPM3GKXQER3QOYP0CV84CNA
  • Story Text: Two armed Filipino hijackers surrendered to Philippine authorities shortly after midnight on Tuesday (6 January) after holding 219 people hostage for 11 hours.

    The hijackers, armed with a pistol and explosives, had seized a Japan Air Lines DC-8 plane shortly before it was due to take off from Manila International Airport for Japan. Most of the passengers aboard were Japanese tourists.

    During long negotiations the two men refused a direct telephone order by Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos for them to surrender.

    Mrs. Marcos was at the airport during the drama to see one of her daughters off on a flight to the U.S.

    She stayed at the terminal and chatted with the hostages after they were released unharmed.

    However, not all the hostages were released at once. The crew of 12 and eight passengers were held back, and in return for their safety, the hijackers demanded a free flight to Japan. But after the Japanese government refused to give the plane permission to land the hijackers finally gave in and surrendered to Tourism Secretary, Jose Aspiras, and Deputy Police Chief, Brigadier-General Gregorio Fider, who had both been negotiating with them.

    It is understood that the two men are brothers - one aged 18, the other 24. They were taken into military custody for questioning.

    The hijacking was the fourth in the Philippines since President Marcos proclaimed martial law in September, 1972.

    SYNOPSIS: Just after midnight on Tuesday and the end of yet another hijack drama. This time at the Manila International Airport in the philippines where two armed gunmen had held two hundred and nineteen people hostage aboard a Japan Air Lines DC-8 for eleven hours.

    The men - both Filipinos - hijacked the plane just before it was due to take off for Japan.

    Toward the end of negotiations with Filipino authorities most of the passengers were released unharmed and taken to the airport terminal. They were mainly Japanese tourists.

    They were greeted warmly by Mrs. Marcos, wife of the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos. She had been at the airport to see one of her daughter's off on another flight and had stayed on during the drama.

    The crew and the rest of the passengers were kept on board as the hijackers demanded a free passage to Japan. When this plan was thwarted they then surrendered to authorities, releasing the remainder of their hostages unharmed.

    The hijackers were taken into military custody for questioning.
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