Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130

Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130 was an aircraft hijacking which took place in Sweden and subsequently Spain on 15 and 16 September 1972. While en route from Torslanda Airport in Gothenburg to Stockholm Arlanda Airport, three armed members of the Croatian National Resistance (CNR) forcibly took control of the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-21 aircraft and redirected it to Bulltofta Airport in Malmö. There was a crew of four and eighty-six passengers on the Scandinavian Airlines System aircraft.

Upon arriving at Bulltofta at 17:14, the hijackers demanded the release of seven members of their group, which had been sentenced for the 1971 occupation of the Consulate-General of Yugoslavia in Gothenburg and shooting at the Embassy of Yugoslavia in Stockholm, including Miro Barešić. They threatened to otherwise detonate a bomb. Negotiations followed throughout the evening, night and morning. Six of the seven prisoners agreed to the transfer and were boarded at 04:00. Only a third of the hostages were released and new negotiations followed. All passengers were eventually released in exchange for SEK 500,000.

The aircraft then left for Madrid–Barajas Airport in Spain. There the aircraft was surrounded by the police and the crew released. The hijackers surrendered at 14:47 and spent a year in prison in Spain. The hijacking was decisive for the Parliament of Sweden passing the new Terrorism Act in 1973.

Background

Two Croatians occupied the Consulate-General of Yugoslavia in Gothenburg on 10 and 11 February 1971, demanding that a Croatian separatist be released from prison in Yugoslavia. After about twenty-four hours, they surrendered without their goals having been met. They were tried by Swedish courts and sentenced to prison. The ambassador of Yugoslavia stated inaccurately that they were part of the Ustaše, a prejudicial term which has since stuck in the Swedish coverage and debate.

The Embassy of Yugoslavia was compromised by two Croatians on 7 April 1971, whereby two Croatians shot Ambassador Vladimir Rolović and wounded a secretary. They were caught and, along with three others who had participated in the planning, were sentenced to prison. The two who broke in were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. The various participants were sentenced in different prisons. The Government of Yugoslavia demanded that the murderers be sent to Yugoslavia where they could be executed. The issue spurred a political debate concerning terrorism, but it remained at a calm level and was mostly concerned with increased penalties for illegal possession of arms and the possibility of deporting terrorists after their prison sentences were concluded.

Already before the attacks on the diplomatic mission, the hijacking was planned by the group as a resort should they be arrested. The three hijackers, aged 35, 40 and 29, lived off welfare in Gothenburg. They supplemented their income through extorting money from fellow Croatians in Gothenburg, claiming that anyone not paying them was an enemy of Croatia. The 29-year-old was previously sentenced for a robbery and several other violent crimes against both Swedes and Serbs.