Japan Air Lines Flight 472 (1977)

Japan Air Lines Flight 472 was an international flight that was hijacked by the Japanese Red Army (JRA) en route from Mumbai to Tokyo on 28 September 1977.

Incident

The Douglas DC-8, en route from Paris to Haneda Airport in Tokyo with 156 people on board, stopped in Bombay, India. Shortly after taking off from Bombay, five armed JRA members, led by Osamu Maruoka, hijacked the aircraft and ordered it flown to Dhaka, Bangladesh. At Dhaka, the hijackers took the passengers and crew hostage, demanding US$6 million and the release of nine imprisoned JRA members. The Chief of Air Staff of Bangladesh Air Force, AG Mahmud, negotiated with the hijackers from the control tower. Things were further complicated at the airport when on 1 October 1977 Bangladesh Air Force mutinied with the lead negotiator almost being killed. The next day (29 September), five hostages were released, including American actress Carole Wells, who was on her honeymoon with her husband, former California assemblyman Walter J. Karabian. Karabian remained on board.

On 1 October Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda announced that the Japanese government would accept the hijackers' demands, on the principle that "the life of a single person outweighs the earth". Six of the imprisoned JRA members were then released.

A chartered Japan Airlines flight carried the money and the six released JRA members to Dhaka, where the exchange took place on 2 October. The hijackers released 118 passengers and crew members. On 3 October, they flew to Kuwait City and Damascus, where they released eleven more hostages. Finally, the aircraft was flown to Algeria, where it was impounded by authorities and the remaining hostages were freed.