Japan Air Lines Flight 404

{{short description|1973 aircraft hijacking}}

{{Infobox aircraft occurrence

| name = Japan Air Lines Flight 404

| image = Japan Airlines Boeing 747-200B Manteufel.jpg

| caption = A Japan Air Lines Boeing 747-200, similar to the one involved

| date = {{start-date|July 20, 1973|20 July 1973}}

| summary = Hijacking

| occurrence_type = Hijacking

| site = Dubai International Airport, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

| aircraft_type = Boeing 747-246B

| operator = Japan Air Lines

| tail_number = JA8109

| origin = Schiphol International Airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands

| stopover0 = Orly International Airport, Paris, France

| stopover1 = Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Anchorage, Alaska, United States

| destination = Tokyo International Airport, Tokyo, Japan

| passengers = 123 (including 5 hijackers)

| crew = 22

| fatalities = 1 (hijacker)

| survivors = 144 (all passengers and crew, including 4 of 5 hijackers)

}}

Japan Air Lines Flight 404 was a passenger flight which was hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Japanese Red Army on 20 July 1973.{{cite web|title=Chronology of aviation terrorism: 1968-2004|url=http://www.skyjack.co.il/chronology/|website=Skyjack, Aviation Terrorism Research|access-date=20 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114172735/http://www.skyjack.co.il/chronology/|archive-date=14 January 2016|url-status=dead}}

The flight departed Amsterdam-Schiphol International Airport, Netherlands, on 20 July 1973, en route to Tokyo International Airport (Haneda), Japan, via Anchorage International Airport, Alaska, US. The aircraft was a Boeing 747-246B, with 123 passengers and 22 crew members on board. The passenger complement included five terrorists, led by Osamu Maruoka, a member of the Japanese Red Army, and the other four were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.{{cite web|title=In the Spotlight: Japanese Red Army |work=Center for Defense Information |url=http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?DocumentID=1771&from_page=../index.cfm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061124224746/http://www.cdi.org/program/document.cfm?documentid=1771&programID=39&from_page=..%2Ffriendlyversion%2Fprintversion.cfm&CFID=5968562&CFTOKEN=24431082 |archive-date=2006-11-24 |access-date=2017-01-28 |url-status=dead }}

Just after takeoff from Schiphol Airport, the flight was hijacked. One of the hijackers accidentally detonated a grenade she was carrying, killing herself and severely injuring the chief purser. The lead hijacker almost immediately announced himself to air traffic control as El Kassar, hijacking the aircraft in the name of the Palestinian Liberation movement.{{cite news | title=The Skyjackers Strike Again | work=Time | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,907619,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214071231/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,907619,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=December 14, 2008 | date=July 30, 1973 | access-date=May 5, 2010}} After several Middle Eastern governments refused to permit Flight 404 to land, the plane eventually touched down in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. After several days on the ground, the terrorists demanded the release of Kozo Okamoto, survivor of the JRA's attack on Tel Aviv's Lod Airport.{{cite news | title=The Skyjackers Strike Again, pg. 2 | work=Time | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,907619-2,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930200520/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,907619-2,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 30, 2007 | date=July 30, 1973 | access-date=May 5, 2010}}

After the Israeli government refused to release Okamoto, the hijackers flew the aircraft first to Damascus, Syria, and then to Benghazi, in Libya.{{ASN accident | id = 19730723-0 | type = Hijacking}} On 23 July, 89 hours after the hijacking began, the passengers and crew were released; the hijackers then blew up the aircraft, making the incident the second hull loss of a Boeing 747, and the first hull loss of a 747-200. The first hull-loss was also the result of hijackers.

Maruoka escaped, and in 1977, led the hijacking of Japan Air Lines Flight 472. He remained a fugitive until 1987 when he was arrested in Tokyo after entering Japan on a forged passport. Given a life sentence, he died in prison on 29 May 2011."[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2011/05/30/national/ex-red-army-member-maruoka-dies/ Ex-Red Army member Maruoka dies]", Japan Times, 30 May 2011.