Await Action by Icao on Threat to Aviation Posed by Armed Attacks and Terrorism

Nations concerned with the increasing threat to the safety of civilian aviation posed by hijackings and armed attacks like those which have victimized El Al are waiting to see what action–if any–will be taken by the International Civil Aviation Organization headquartered here. The 116-member governmental body, which is loosely affiliated with the United Nations, was urged yesterday to take up the matter of protecting airplane traffic from illegal interference. The call for action was made by the United States, supported by eight other powers, to the ICAO’s 27-member governing council. The ICAO’s secretary-general, Bernardius Twight, received a letter on the subject from UN Secretary General U Thant. Some members believe the matter is outside the sphere of the body, which normally concentrates on technical problems of aviation.

One member complained the UN was “passing the buck.” Observers here thought speedier, more effective action, might be obtained through the International Air Line Pilots Association. That group, headquartered in London, is a professional association of airline pilots and was believed instrumental in securing the release from Algeria of an Israeli airliner that was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists last summer and forced to land in Algiers. IALPA threatened that none of its members would fly to Algeria unless the plane and its crew and passengers were freed. Such threats, it was believed here, could be effective against Middle East governments that refused to cooperate in protecting airliners from terrorism or retaliation.

The nine-power proposal, which was under preparation before the Zurich attack on an El Al Boeing 720B last week by Arab terrorists is intended to forestall a new round of terrorist attacks on airliners and reprisals such as Israel’s Dec. 28 raid on Beirut Airport in response to a terrorist attack on an El Al plane in Athens last year. American officials have stressed that the question is not one of partisanship in the Middle East conflict but one that potentially affects airline passengers of all countries. The U.S. representative to the ICAO, Robert J. Boyle, told newsmen here yesterday that the nine-nation objective was to create “a climate of moral suasion” on governments to do whatever they could to protect aircraft and air transportation facilities. He said the Zurich incident “clearly lends impetus and urgency to the consideration of the general subject of assuring the safety, security and regularity of international civil aviation.”

Measures mentioned included the establishment of a special ICAO committee to investigate each instance of interference with air traffic. A subcommittee of the ICAO council has already proposed an international convention to deal with air hijackers. The country in whose territory the offender landed would be expected to punish him or to extradite him to the country of registration of the stolen aircraft. One delegate suggested that the ICAO declare interference with civil aviation to be a common crime rather than a political crime. ICAO is scheduled to meet Friday to decide if it will take up the matter.