On 8 May 1972, a Boeing 707 passenger aircraft operating that service, captained by British pilot Reginald Levy, DFC,[1] was hijacked by four members of the Black September Organization, a Palestinian terrorist group.

He concealed from the hijackers that his wife was a passenger on the plane, traveling with him to celebrate his birthday in Tel Aviv.

[3] When the plane had landed, the hijackers demanded the release of 315 convicted Palestinian terrorists[4] imprisoned in Israel, and threatened to blow up the airplane with its passengers.

[1] Having immobilized it during the preceding night by deflating some of the landing gear tires, they convinced the hijackers that its hydraulic system needed repair.

Netanyahu was also wounded during the rescue when another commando, Marko Ashkenazi, accidentally discharged his gun as he used it to hit Theresa Halsa.

[9] Captain Levy, a Royal Air Force veteran who took part in strategic bombing missions over Germany during World War II[1] and also in the Berlin airlift,[1] had joined Sabena in 1952.