Narrative:The Air Tanzania flight bound for Dar es Salaam (DAR) was hijacked by five passengers. They forced it to land at Nairobi (NBO), Kenya. Five passengers were released and the Boeing 737 was refueled. After nearly six hours on the ground, the airplane took off at 12:15 am. The flight was refueled at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and continued to Athens, Greece. In Athens two passengers were released. The flight continued to London-Stansted (STN).
The hijackers demanded to speak to exiled Tanzanian opposition politician Oscar Kambona. After he spoke to them as they demanded, the hijackers surrendered February 28.
The weapons used by the hijackers to secure control of the aircraft included: two wooden imitation pistols, an imitation hand grenade, two candles wrapped up to appear like gelignite explosive sticks and three knives. But in the course of the flight possession was obtained of a hand gun (0.38 revolver), a shot gun and a rifle. These weapons belonged to passengers who had surrendered them to the captain of the plane in accordance with the regulations on the transportation of arms on aircraft.
Classification:
Hijack
Sources:
» JP4
»
The hijacking of a Tanzanian aircraft
Photos
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does
not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Mwanza Airport to Dar es Salaam International Airport as the crow flies is 848 km (530 miles).
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.