U.S. HEADS OFF THE HIJACKERS: HOW THE OPERATION UNFOLDED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000403960007-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 22, 2010
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: October 12, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/22 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000403960007-4
ARTl 1E APr$,,.J NEW YORK TIMES
ON PA6 12 October 1985
STAT
As. the President ordered the inter-operating U.S. Heads Off the Hijackers: wi'ha Ir. Mc dFa a aid was
unusually high quality of intelligence
m various sources, in..
How the Operation Unfolded cl d+ tral 11e en
e w d not elaborate, other
Administration officials hinted there
By FX. CLINES might have been sources who had the
s FRANCIS R The . Egyptian plane, a Boeing 737, under
visual surveillance as the takeoff was
WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 - Shortly 'States noon Thursday, Eastern daylight P directed at United State citizens In contrast to the joke-telling session
in the Middle East. on the trip to Chicago, Mr. Reagan did
time, President Reagan conferred in a .We did this all by our little selves," not visit his guests on the return trip
private office at a cake factory nearf~ said rather proudly. His aboard Air Force One, after he had
Chicano and, after weighing the risks , advisetifconcurred. exultantly decrib? issued his initial order and details were
decided to try to intercept an Egyptian, in the seizure of the terrorists as a sin- being received about the scrambling of
civilian jet with United States fighter, gar success for American intelli- the F-14's. He was quieter, less ebul-
a ft. gene and military planners. and as a lfent," a Presidential aide recalled
Mr. Reagan was told that inteW- tribute to the President's quiet deci? the flight back to Washington.
gene experts expected that the plane The aircraft that took off from the
would soon be flying from Cairo with siveness. Saratoga included four F-14 fighters
the four ur hijackers of the Italian cruise At the President's side in Illinois that ,had rehearsed their close-winged
ship hijackers
Lauro, and the President monitoring the word from Cairo was approach to the civilian jetliner, as
decided to try aforce them away his national security adviser, Robert C. well as three additional F-14's, an E-2C
from a safe try haven and n and into a court of McFarlane, a soft-spoken combat vet- radar intelligence plane, and tanker five
was during its
of al the force
justice. His order was racing through eran who said today that Mr. Reagan planes refuel
Pentagon channels by 1:30 P.M. had ad expressed ?..very prudent ~ a~', tracked by a team of Administration
The bold plan for an airborne opera- for tlre"risks and had several times officials working in the Situation Room
tion to seize some initiative from inter- asked "what if" questions as he went in the White House basement under the
national terrorists was conceived and over final details of the plan during a direction of Mr. McFarlane's deputy,
presented to the President early Thugs- break on his tour of the Sara Lee Kitch- Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter.
day morning, according to White ens cake factory in Deerfield, Ill. The Saratoga had been cruising at
dayse officials. It never reached the point where night near the Pelopoanesus when the
the risks exceeded the potential gam," President's initial order arrived and
No Hint of the Operation Mr. McFarlane said. had to come about into the wind for the
After he gave initial approval by Memory of Failed Misrioa aircraft launch. In formation above the
midday in Illinois, F-14 fighter planes But as the time approached for the Mediterranean, the planes were or-
were scrambled from the American president's final order, various ofH- i tetal silence," according to Navy
carrier Saratoga and were ciais knew of the operation and could rotary John F. Lehman Jr.
flying in place over the Mediterranean appreciate the risks, recalling the
failed attempt by president Jimmy After waiting more than three hours,
in-
at 2:15 P.M. Eastern time - it was al- Carter to use military force to rescue the planes, aided by extensive radar
ready evening in Europe - to await his 1990. formation, spotted the Egyptian 737
the hostages in Iran in
final order. 'Those four people will l be be brought to visually at 5:30 P.M. Eastern time at At 4:37 P.M., as he returned to Wash- justice," a cryptic but unusually confi- 34.25 degrees north latitude and 25 de-
ington on Air Force One after his visit dent Senator Dave Durenberger, Re- grees east longitude. This was 80 miles
to the Chicago area, the President re- publican of Minnesota, told reporters south of Crete.
gave announcing
ceived confirmation that the Egyptian Thursday at 4 P.M., shortly after he themselves, n, ail an and it the a jetliner without
o in-
no
plane had taken off 22 minute earlier. was briefed about the plan. dication that it was aware of the sur-
and he issued his final instruction to P "Or whoever is still living at the time veillance, according to Pentagon offi-
have the armed fighters carry out the they can be brought to justice,,' Mr. cials. cha interception plan. Durenberger, Committee man of the Senate
Select Cttee on Intelligence, order to Intercept Is Given
Mr. Reagan gave no hint of the risky quickly added, since the plan was still The F-14 force monitored radio
operation as he traveled from Wash- far from certain success. transmissions as the jetliner sought
ington to Chicago an Thursday morning when the cruise ship hijacking began and was denied permission to land at
for a speech on tax reform. He told on Monday, the Administration put into Tunis, then Athens. Finally, the order
jokes to Representatives Henry J. effect standing plans to have a military was passed to the fighters to turn on
Hyde and Lynn Martin. Republicans of assault force prepare for a possible their running lights and confront the
Illinois, as they flow west aboard Air boarding action. But Wednesday was jetliner by radio and shepherd it to the
ey the earliest opportunity for the night- North Atlantic Treaty Orggnization
Force One. time raid - too late to capture the ter- base at Sigonella in Sicily.
But the attractiveness of the plan al? rorists, who had by then surrendered to One crucial question that Adminis-
r.eady was clear to him, according to Egyptian authorities and been prom- tration officials would not answer
aides, and he summarized that today in used safe passage from Cairn- definitively today was whether the
explaining his decision to proceed de. While the boarding raid was a known planes had been prepared to tire on the
spite the attendant risks. option of the Administration's anti- jetliner if the order were resisted.
terrorist contingency plans, the idea of "That's for them to go to bed every
"Here was a clear-cut case where we intercepting the Egyptian airliner was night wondering," Mr. Reagan said to-
could lay our hands an the terrorists," not. Even as he was ordering the inter- day, speaking of the incident as a le-
he said, after five years of frustration ception plan, the President was telling son for any potential future terrorists.
over a series of bombings and kidnap- a Chicago crowd of his "gorge" of iris- The jetliner and its escort landed at.
tration at the incident, in which an in- the Sicily base at 6:45 P.M. Eastern"
valid passenger from New York report- , time. It was instantly surrounded by
edly was abut In the head by the terror- troops from the base, which is near the
ists and thrown overboard. city of Catania.
Colitmued
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A period of confusion followed involv-
ing American and Italian officials, ac-
cording to Administration officials.
Heavy air cover could be sees, with
planes circling the field, according to
one officer on duty at the time, and
from time to time the jetliner was
towed from one point to another, as if to
protect against potentially unfriendly
interlopers.
Shortly after 11 P.M. Thursday in
Washington, the White House con-
firmed the mission and said it had
achieved the President's goal: to see
the terrorists brought to custody in or-
der to face charges for the hijacking of
the cruise ship.
Larry Speakes, the President's
spokesman, summarized the mission
and Mr. Reagan's role in it. "He ap.
proved the escalation of it as events
warranted," Mr. Speakes said. "It was
just the right appltt..ation of U.S.
force."
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