Parcel Bomb Attacks on 21 February 1970

Black and white photograph of an airplane crash site in the forest. Debris is lying on the forest floor between the trees. Two men with cameras stand beside the debris.
Debris from the Swiss Air plane that crashed on 21.2.1970 in a wooded area near Würenlingen, Switzerland, © KEYSTONE
Black and white photograph showing a view into a factory hall taken from above. A large amount of aircraft debris is laid out in predetermined markings on the floor of the factory building. Three men in overalls are moving among the debris.
Debris from the Swiss Air plane spread out in a hangar at Zurich Airport in an attempt to find the cause of the crash, March 1970, © KEYSTONE

Shortly after the attack on the passengers and crew of an El Al plane in Munich on 10 February and the foiled hijacking a week later, two more attacks on air traffic took place on 21 February 1970. A parcel bomb detonated on an Austrian Airlines plane en route to Vienna a few minutes after take-off in Frankfurt am Main. It had been placed in a mailbag that was destined for Tel Aviv. The pilots succeeded in returning to Frankfurt Airport so that nobody was injured. A second parcel bomb exploded in the hold of a Swiss Air passenger plane that same day. The aircraft was on its way from Zurich to Tel Aviv. An attempt to return to the home airport failed. All 47 occupants died when the aircraft crashed near Würenlingen in the canton of Aargau. Despite several suspicious findings that pointed to the “Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command” (PFLP-GC) and suspected links to the other terrorist attacks in Munich, no watertight evidence has been found to date.

Newsletter

Wir informieren Sie gerne monatlich über unsere Projekte und Partnerschaften. Melden Sie sich an und bleiben Sie informiert.

Direkt zum Anmeldeformular

Rechtliches & soziale Netzwerke

public-history@muenchen.de
Direction: Dr. Sabine Schalm

Imprint
Privacy policy

Instagram 
LinkedIn
YouTube