Pakistan International Airlines Flight 326
A Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 720, similar to the aircraft involved | |
| Hijacking | |
|---|---|
| Date | 2 March 1981 |
| Summary | Hijacking |
| Site |
|
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 720 |
| Operator | Pakistan International Airlines |
| IATA flight No. | PK326 |
| ICAO flight No. | PIA326 |
| Registration | AP-AZP |
| Flight origin | Karachi |
| Stopover | Kabul (1st diversion) |
| Last stopover | Damascus (2nd diversion) |
| Destination | Peshawar |
| Occupants | 144 |
| Passengers | 135 (including 3 hijackers) |
| Crew | 9 |
| Fatalities | 1 |
| Survivors | 143 |
| ||
|---|---|---|
|
Personal |
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Pakistan International Airlines Flight 326 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that was hijacked by the militant organisation Al Zulfiqar led by Murtaza Bhutto. Bhutto was the son of former Pakistani prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was deposed in a coup and later executed by Zia-ul-Haq. It was a routine flight scheduled from Karachi to Peshawar, but the hijackers diverted it to Kabul, Afghanistan, and then Damascus, where the hostage situation ended with the release of prisoners by the Zia-ul-Haq government as demanded by the hijackers.