Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 013

Template:Infobox aircraft occurrence On 7 March 1983, Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 013, operated by an Antonov An-24, was seized by four individuals armed with knives who demanded to be flown to Vienna, Austria.

Aircraft

The aircraft involved was an Antonov An-24, bearing the registration LZ-AND, which had its maiden flight in 1967.

Incident

Template:Multiple issues At approximately 18:00 local time, a Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Antonov An-24 was hijacked shortly after departing on a scheduled route from Sofia to Varna. Four men between the ages of 17 and 22—Lachezar Ivanov, Valentin Ivanov, Krasen Gechev, and Ivaylo Vladimirov—brandished knives and took hostage all 40 passengers and crew members. They informed the passengers that they were escaped repeat offenders and threatened to depressurize the aircraft if anyone attempted to interfere with their takeover. The hijackers intimidated a flight attendant and insisted that the flight be redirected to Vienna. One passenger was sent forward to the cockpit to convey their demands to the pilot, who then informed local authorities and received instructions to feign compliance while actually steering toward Varna. To prevent the hijackers from identifying the Black Sea coastline, authorities cut electrical power to Varna. Upon arrival at Varna airport, a police officer and an airport employee fluent in German disguised themselves as Austrian airport personnel in an effort to convince the hijackers they had landed in Vienna and coax them off the plane. The hijackers requested a translator for negotiations but became alarmed when one disguised officer was spotted wearing a Bulgarian leather jacket, causing them to panic and threaten hostage executions. At this moment, four commandos boarded through a luggage compartment hatch; they swiftly overpowered and detained three hijackers. The remaining hijacker, Valentin Ivanov, barricaded himself inside the lavatory threatening to kill the flight attendant. Two commandos entered via the passenger door, forced open the bathroom door, and fatally shot Ivanov as he attempted to harm his hostage. Valentin Ivanov was the sole fatality during this event. The injured flight attendant suffered a neck wound with significant bleeding but was promptly transported to a nearby hospital where she fully recovered.

In popular culture

This event was depicted in the 23rd season of the Canadian documentary series Mayday, under the episode titled "Deadly Deception".

See also

• 1990 Guangzhou Baiyun airport collisions
• Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961