The hijacking of LOT Polish Airlines Flight 702 was the hijacking of a scheduled An-24 passenger plane operated by LOT Polish Airlines on August 22, 1981. The hijacker was Jerzy Dygas, the mailman for Tygodnik Solidarność, along with two others, overpowered the crew of a scheduled passenger plane from Wrocław to Warsaw with a grenade and ordered the plane to divert to West Berlin. There were four crew members and 39 passengers on board. The plane landed at Tempelhof Airport at 7:09 p.m., after which the hijacker released the passengers, surrendered to the Americans and requested asylum.[1].
 SP-LTI, landing at Berlin Tempelhof Airport, hijacked in 21 July, 1981, a month before the hijacking of Flight 702 | |
| Hijacking | |
|---|---|
| Date | 22 August 1981 |
| Summary | Hijacking |
| Site |
|
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Antonov An-24V |
| Operator | LOT Polish Airlines |
| Registration | SP-LTI |
| Flight origin | Wrocław Airport, Wrocław, Polish People's Republic |
| Destination | Warsaw Okęcie Airport, Warsaw, Polish People's Republic |
| Passengers | 39 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Survivors | 43 |
The US authorities handed him over to West Berlin police, who put him on trial for terrorism. Unlike many who escaped the Iron Curtain, Dygas received a sentence higher than the minimum stipulated in the German criminal code and was sentenced to five and a half years in prison.[2]. This was the third hijacking targeting aircraft SP-LTI, following two previous incidents on July 21 and August 5, 1981.[3][4]
In popular culture
editThe incident also inspired episode 18 of Telewizja Polska's crime series 07 Come In," titled Bilet do Frankfurtu (English: Air Ticket To Frankfurt), which premiered in 1981. In the episode, Lieutenant Sławomir Borewicz (cast by Bronisław Cieślak) and his team must stop a couple attempting to hijack a plane and flee to Frankfurt, West Germany. The hijacked plane itself (SP-LTI) was also used in the episode.
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ "International Terrorism in the 1980s: 1980-1983". Iowa State University Press. 1 January 1989. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
- ↑ "Wielkie ucieczki: o ludziach, którzy zbiegli z PRL-u". Zwierciadł. 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
- ↑ "Accident description for Tuesday 21 July 1981". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
- ↑ "Accident description for Wednesday 5 August 1981". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 12 May 2026.