Sixty-four Israeli passengers on the Air France plane hijacked to Entebbe, Uganda in June, 1976, have filed suit for IL 190 million in damages from the French airline. They are also seeking an unspecified amount in compensation for bodily harm. The group includes the heirs of three Israelis killed in the hijacking by Arab and German terrorists.
The civil suit charges Air France with gross negligence toward the safety of its passengers. The complainants say that the airline had no arrangements to cope with or prevent the hijacking. They say the door to the pilots’ compartment was left open, no thorough search was made of luggage or boarding passengers and that crew members told the hostages at Entebbe that they were not trained for such an emergency. A similar suit has been filed in the U.S., but Air France claimed the American courts have no jurisdiction to hear the case.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
