John A. Mizzi, St Paul's Bay
Stories that needed telling
The recent screening by Where's Everybody? on TVM of the programme on the hijacking of Egyptair Flight MS 648 in November 1985 failed to get to the core of the story. It was the responsibility of the Maltese authorities to deal with the issue with a certain amount of sobriety but this was not done when a stand was taken, with fatal results, not to allow the American officials - who had come to guide the Egyptian commandos in any attempt to free the hostages - to participate in any way. When the Egyptians landed they brushed the Maltese soldiers aside and took up positions near the steel tower on Park 9. One of the three Americans, led by a major-general, was detained at the helicopter flight base for the duration of the hijack and the two others were allowed to go to the American Embassy in Floriana when the ambassador was warned they were not to move from there.
American aircraft were on standby at Sigonella in Sicily with listening devices and other equipment to monitor the hijackers. An expert for the aircraft manufacturers Boeing was also waiting to fly to Malta with diagrams of the aircraft lay-out. But those conducting the negotiations in the control tower were obsessed by their anti-American feelings, a feature of those running Malta at the time.
Although soldiers had been posted close to the aircraft, these were not given ammunition for the guns. Those in the control tower thought, despite the confusion inside, they could do things better than a recently trained incident management team of the Maltese armed forces which was not even considered. The whole of Malta could follow the negotiations over the two days as this could be picked up on any portable radio or at home.
Nobody mentioned that Jackie Pflug, who was the fifth person to be shot and was recovered with a bullet in her head after five hours senseless on the tarmac under the aircraft, still today has the bullet in her head, suffering for many years from epilepsy and emotional disorders.
There were so many stories that needed telling: The Egyptian commandos blowing up the aircraft simply by putting their explosive at the most vulnerable spot, among the oxygen tanks; the efforts of the members of the Special Mobile Unit of the police to control the Egyptians when they went berserk; the nationalities which were killed, including babies and pregnant women and a prominent Mexican actress;, and the indignation of those who came to collect the Moslem victims to find they had been placed in coffins with a cross.
But perhaps a proper indication of the confusion came when, soon after the Egyptian attack, the senior officer of the Maltese Task Force in the control tower excitedly told the reporters of the state radio and television, at that time under the control of Labour party stalwarts, that the passengers had been liberated so that Malta television told a tense island: "Maltese security forces have stormed the plane and the hijackers have given themselves up" when the rest of the local and foreign press corps had already told their offices that there had been a massacre, so that people in Malta knew of the tragedy first from the Rai news bulletin.
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James Nicholl
Nov 24th 2009, 14:41
If I am not mistaken & also not confusing John.A.Mizzi with another John Mizzi, there was a book 'MASSACRE in MALTA' which was by John.A.Mizzi or another John Mizzi himself..........
Charles Sammut
Mar 20th 2009, 21:05
@ Henry Spiteri
I realised my mistake as soon as I hit the submit button and immediately sent in a correction. But for some reason it was ignored.
Of course, as you point out, Park 9 was built when the runway 32/14 (now 31/13) was extended.
This hijacking held the record for the highest number of fatalities for a long time. 9/11 changed all that.
J Zammit
Mar 20th 2009, 20:53
Thanks Mr Mizzi. This is what I call real journalistic stuff. Also, I wonder how many state secrets have been hidden, and still being hidden, from us poor mortals. I'm sure that if certain state secrets were to be divulged, Malta's recent history over the last 100 years or so, would have to be written anew.
Henry Spiteri
Mar 20th 2009, 19:18
@Charles Sammut Park 9 was there since 1977 when the new runway was opened for landing and take-offs. I rememeber the Egyptair hijack very well, a very sad end.
Charles Sammut
Mar 20th 2009, 18:18
Not only were the explosives placed under the aircraft badly placed, but they were so powerful that they killed the occupants of the seats immediately above them. Moreover when people started streaming out of the smoke filled cabin, Egyptian commandos shot at them indiscriminately.
However there is one inaccuracy in this report. The aircraft in question was parked on Park 4, opposite the Polidano plant in Hal Farrug to keep it as far away as possible from any other installation.
Moderator NB
I made a mistake in my earlier psoting. Park 9 did exist but was not the park where the aircraft was parked. The above is the correct version. My apologies.
Charles Sammut
Mar 20th 2009, 18:16
Not only were the explosives placed under the aircraft badly placed, but they were so powerful that they killed the occupants of the seats immediately above them. Moreover when people started streaming out of the smoke filled cabin, Egyptian commandos shot at them indiscriminately.
However there is one inaccuracy in this report. Park 9 did not exist in 1985, it was built in 1989 (I think) when the new terminal was constructed. The aircraft in question was parked on Park 4, opposite the Polidano plant in Hal Farrug to keep it as far away as possible from any other installation.
GiovDeMartino
Mar 20th 2009, 15:33
LABOUR means DISASTER. Past, Present and Future. DAWN FATTI.
Dr Francis Saliba
Mar 20th 2009, 13:22
@John A Mizzi
Congratulations for divulging the truth regarding the massacre of the Egyptair hijacking - it agrees completely with the version given to me about the mismanagement of the whole affair by the inexperienced and presumptious tyroes who did not allow American experts to assist in the matter leading to a veritable massacre of the innocents! No wonder that the Prime Minister thought that a black tie was appropriate at the subsequent cabinet meeting!
A.Sacco
Mar 20th 2009, 13:04
The bit about the misinformation handed out by the state broadcasting media (the only tv station at the time) reminds me of the Libyan gunboat incident near the (Saipem?) oil rig hired by the Maltese government of the time ("It-thaffir ghadu sejjer" we were told, when Rai tv was already announcing that the Maltese Government (of Dom Mintoff) had suspended all drilling operations). "Azzjoni li ma tistennihiex mill-akbar ghadu tieghek!" Were these the words uttered by the then PM with regard to this humiliating treatment by our former "blood brothers"?
Evarist Saliba
Mar 20th 2009, 11:51
The fact that the senior officer of the Task Force blatantly misled the media, and tried to claim credit for himself for a rescue operation that, in fact, had not taken place, shows not only the confusion that reigned in the airport's control tower, but the length to which members of Malta's highest authority were prepared to go to mislead the public.
Up to today, no one invoved in that tragedy has deigned to recount the whole truth of what happened then.
Thank you, John, for keeping the flame of truth alight.