1982 Alitalia hijacking
Boeing 747-243B · Hijacking
From Rome–Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO) to Tokyo Haneda International Airport (HND)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Unknown
- Event fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- Unknown
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Boeing 747-243B
- Aircraft type
- Boeing 747
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- I-DEMF
- Operator
- Alitalia
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Route
- From Rome–Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci International Airport (FCO)To Tokyo Haneda International Airport (HND)
Approximate · Estimated position: Don Mueang International Airport, the airport the Wikipedia article names as the site. Where on or near it is not known.
From the Wikipedia article
Sepala Ekanayake (or Ekanayaka; born in Karatota, Matara, Sri Lanka) gained international notoriety after hijacking an Alitalia Boeing 747 with 340 passengers on June 30, 1982.
Hijacking
Ekanayake waited until the plane reached a level of 35,000 feet and then issued his demands to the pilot in a letter. He wanted to have his wife and son brought to the Bangkok-Don Muang International Airport and 300,000 US dollars. He also instructed that the plane was to land at the Bangkok airport, leave the doors closed, issue the demands to the Italian authorities, and communicate only through radio. If his orders were not followed Ekanayake would blow up the plane with the "most sophisticated bombs manufactured in Italy."
The chief pilot George Amarosa immediately dropped to 25,000 feet and headed to Bangkok. In a few hours his wife and son and the ransom were on the way to the city. In 30 hours the transaction was completed and Ekanayake released the passengers of the plane. He now had to figure out where he would go with the money and his family.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Sepala Ekanayake” (revision 1361860901, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: Sepala Ekanayake
- Article
- Sepala Ekanayake
- Revision
- 1361860901 · 2026-06-30 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q7451745
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "Sepala Ekanayake" (page 12334014, revision 1361860901)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- airport the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata code, OurAirports)
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator is an airline according to Wikidata
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.