An Air Malta aircraft narrowly missed being involved in a mid-air bomb disaster en route to Cairo in 1981, according to a new book. Terrorists had timed three bombs, which were smuggled onto the aircraft, to explode when the plane reached the terminal at Cairo Airport, intending to cause a catastrophe for Egypt on the day of Hosni Mubarak’s swearing in.

Since the flight was delayed, the plane was still a long way from the terminal and the bombs exploded on the tarmac as the luggage hold was being unloaded.

However, had the flight been delayed further, the explosives would have gone off in mid-air, killing all on board.

The incident is one of many terrorist plots with a Maltese connection found in the new book Terror’s Footprints: Shadows of International Terrorism over Malta, by journalist Joe Mifsud and edited by Martin Bugelli.

Mubarak assumed the Egyptian presidency on October 14, 1981, taking over the baton from Anwar Sadat, who had been assassinated eight days earlier.

The regional situation was very tense, with many in the Arab world feeling betrayed by the 1979 peace treaty Sadat signed with Israel. One of the consequences of Sadat’s policy was a falling out with Muammar Gaddafi’s regime. Flights between the two countries had been discontinued and many were using Air Malta to travel between Libya and Egypt, and vice-versa.