![]() An Aer Lingus 737-200, similar to the one that was hijacked | |
Hijacking | |
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Date | 2 May 1981 |
Summary | Hijacking |
Site | London Heathrow Airport |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Boeing 737-200 |
Operator | Aer Lingus |
Flight origin | Dublin |
Destination | London Heathrow |
Occupants | 108 |
Passengers | 103 |
Crew | 5 |
Fatalities | 0 |
Injuries | 0 |
Survivors | 108 |
Aer Lingus Flight 164 was a scheduled Boeing 737 passenger flight that was hijacked on 2 May 1981, en route from Dublin in Ireland to London Heathrow in England.
While on approach to Heathrow, about five minutes before the flight was due to land in England, a 55-year-old Australian man named Laurence James Downey went into the aircraft lavatory and doused himself in petrol, a highly flammable liquid. [1] He then went to the cockpit and demanded that the plane continue on to Le Touquet – Côte d'Opale Airport in France and refuel there for a flight to Tehran, Iran. [2] [3] Upon landing at Le Touquet, Downey further demanded the publication in the Irish press of a nine-page statement which he had the captain throw from the cockpit window. [4]
After an eight-hour standoff (during which time Downey released 11 of his 108 hostages), [5] French special forces stormed the plane and apprehended Downey. No shots were fired during the ordeal and nobody was injured. [6] It was later found out that Downey was being sought by police in Perth, Australia, in connection with a $70,000 land fraud incident, [7] and was also wanted in Shannon, Ireland, for alleged assault. [6] He was sentenced in February 1983, in Saint-Omer, France, to five years' imprisonment for air piracy. [8]
In his statement, Downey claimed to have been a Trappist monk in residence at Tre Fontane Abbey in the 1950s (this was later confirmed by monastery officials), [2] before he was expelled from the order for punching a superior in the face. [3] He then took a job as a tour guide in central Portugal, at a shrine devoted to Our Lady of Fátima, the reported origin of the Three Secrets of Fátima. [2] At the time of the hijacking, the third secret was known only to the Pope and other senior figures in the Catholic Church; Downey's statement called on the Vatican to release this secret to the public. [3]