Date:	Tuesday 23 June 1998
Time:
Type:	Boeing 727-200
Owner/operator:	Iberia
Registration:
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 131
Aircraft damage:	None
Category:	UI
Location:	Valencia Airport (VLC) -   Spain
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Sevilla Airport (SVQ/LEZL)
Destination airport:	Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN/LEBL)

Narrative:
Approximately one hour after departing Seville, Iberia flight 1121 was hijacked and diverted to Valencia Airport. The hijacking occurred while the aircraft was flying from Seville to Barcelona, Spain, en route to Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
The hijacker told the pilot that he had a remote control device and could detonate a bomb in a suitcase in the plane's cargo hold. He initially demanded to be flown to Athens, Greece, but then requested to be taken to Tel Aviv, Israel. The aircraft landed in Valencia for fuel, and the hijacker began demanding food and drink and fuel for the flight to Israel. Approximately an hour later the hijacker agreed to release 18 people, mostly children. After several more hours, the Spanish National Police determined that only one hijacker was involved and they identified him as a psychiatric patient. The hijacker, after speaking to his psychiatrist, surrendered approximately four hours after seizing the plane. None of the 124 passengers and seven crew members were injured
during the incident. A search of the plane found no bomb on board; the device held by the hijacker was a television remote control.

El País 24-6-1998
BBC
Criminal Acts Against Civil Aviation 1998 / FAA, Office of Civil Aviation Security

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