Aer Lingus Flight 164

Last updated

Aer Lingus Flight 164
Aer Lingus Boeing 737-200 Marmet.jpg
An Aer Lingus 737-200, similar to the one that was hijacked
Hijacking
Date2 May 1981 (1981-05-02)
Summary Hijacking
Site London Heathrow Airport
Aer Lingus Flight 164
Aircraft
Aircraft type Boeing 737-200
Operator Aer Lingus
Registration EI-ASD
Flight origin Dublin
Destination London Heathrow
Occupants108
Passengers103
Crew5
Fatalities0
Injuries0
Survivors108

Aer Lingus Flight 164 was a scheduled Boeing 737 passenger flight that was hijacked on 2 May 1981, on route from Dublin in Ireland to London Heathrow in England.

Contents

Hijacking and standoff

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]

Aftermath

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] Downey was released after only 18 months in prison. He then returned to Australia. [9]

Hijacker

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]

A documentary detailing the incident, Holy Hijacker - Seeking the Third Secret of Fatima, was released in 1999. [10]

The hijacking was later the subject of a comedic play titled A Holy Show. [11]

References

  1. ↑ "Scannal – Aer Lingus Hijack". RTÉ.ie. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 "Hijacker Has Tangled Past". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. 4 May 1981. p. 4B.
  3. 1 2 3 "Police storm Irish jetliner; hostages freed unharmed". Kingman Daily Miner. 3 May 1981. pp. 1, 5.
  4. ↑ "Former monk hijacks Irish airliner". Spokane Daily Chronicle. 2 May 1981. p. 2.
  5. ↑ "Former monk surrenders plane". The Southeast Missourian. 3 May 1981. p. 1.
  6. 1 2 "French Police Storm Plane, Capture Hijacker". The Toledo Blade. 3 May 1981. p. 2.
  7. ↑ "Obsessions of ex-monk hijacker". Sydney Morning Herald . 5 May 1981. p. 13.
  8. ↑ "Hijacker sentenced". Nashua Telegraph. 14 February 1983. p. 5.
  9. ↑ Dwyer, Ryle (2 January 2012). "Aer Lingus hijacker complained about his treatment to taoiseach". Irish Examiner . Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  10. ↑ "| The Irish Film & Television Network". www.iftn.ie. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  11. ↑ Andrews, Kernan (16 January 2020). "The hijacker, the Third Secret of Fatima, and a right Holy Show". Galway Advertiser . Retrieved 3 October 2025.

50°30′53″N001°37′39″E / 50.51472°N 1.62750°E / 50.51472; 1.62750

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.