Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 706

Aerolineas Argentinas Flight 706 was a domestic flight scheduled on October 5, 1975, between the Argentine cities of Buenos Aires and Formosa, with a layover in Corrientes.

The Boeing 737-287C operated by Aerolineas Argentinas was hijacked by a command of the Peronist guerrilla group Montoneros to ensure the escape of about 30 guerrillas who had participated in the failed attempt to take over the 29th Forest Infantry Regiment, known as Operation Primicia, which ended up being the deadliest offensive by Montoneros. The assault was carried out on Sunday, October 5, 1975, during the term of a constitutional government.

Flight 706 hijacking

Journalist Ceferino Reato, who reconstructed the events of the hijacking in his book Operación Primicia, recounts that when the aircraft was flying over the city of Monte Caseros, en route to Corrientes, a young man in his twenties burst into the cockpit with a 9mm Browning Hi-Power pistol and ordered Aircraft Commander Diego Bakas and co-pilot Amílcar Fernández to not move, saying that "The plane is taken by Montoneros." After forcing the pilot to divert to El Pucú Airport, in the city of Formosa—previously seized by another Montoneros platoon—the passengers were released and the plane took off towards Brazil. However, due to a lack of fuel, the aircraft had to make an emergency landing in a field in María Susana, near Rafaela, in the province of Santa Fe, close to the intersection of National Routes 34 and 19.