Date:	Thursday 29 October 1998
Time:
Type:	Boeing 737-4Y0
Owner/operator:	THY Turkish Airlines
Registration:	TC-JDF
MSN:	24917/2071
Year of manufacture:	1991
Engine model:	CFMI CFM56-3C1
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 40
Aircraft damage:	None
Category:	UI
Location:	Diyarbakir Airport (DIY) -   Turkey
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Adana Airport (ADA/LTAF)
Destination airport:	Ankara-Esenboga Airport (ESB/LTAC)

Narrative:
A man with a handgun and a grenade hijacked THY flight 487, which had departed Adana Airport (ADA) at approximately 19:45 en route to Ankara-Esenboga Airport (ESB), Turkey. The hijacker demanded to be taken to Lausanne, Switzerland, but agreed to the pilot's request to land at Sofia, Bulgaria, for refueling. The pilot, however, landed at Ankara's Esenboga Airport at approximately 21:00, while the hijacker believed they were in Sofia. The hijacker told the passengers that he was protesting the Turkish government's "dirty war" against ethnic Kurds in Turkey. The pilot also read a statement from the hijacker demanding to be taken to Lausanne because it was there that the modern Turkish state was created in a treaty signed 75 years earlier. (The hijacking occurred during the 75th anniversary celebration of the Turkish Republic.)
Although negotiations were conducted, the hijacker did not release any passengers. Approximately seven hours after the plane landed (04:00) Turkish National Police special action teams stormed the plane through the rear door, evacuated some passengers, and killed the hijacker in the cockpit. There were no other injuries. It is not known whether the hijacker acted on his own or on behalf of the PKK.
Coincidentally, one week earlier this same plane was prevented from taking off in Strasbourg, France, by protesters trying to prevent the deportation of a Kurd to Turkey.

Abdullah Nergiz (E-mail, 30-6-2010)
BBC: Special forces end Turkish hijack (30-10-1998)
Criminal Acts Against Civil Aviation 1998 / FAA, Office of Civil Aviation Security

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