Refused To Abandon Passengers When Plane Was Hijacked In 1976

The captain of Air France Flight 139 on June 27, 1976 which was hijacked to Entebbe has Gone West. Michel Bacos was 95 years old.

Vos Iz Neias? reports that Bacos' passing was noted by Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice, on social media last Tuesday. "He refused to abandon his passengers, who were taken hostage because they were Israeli or of Jewish origin, risking his own life,” Estrosi wrote. “Michel bravely refused to surrender to antisemitism and barbarism and brought honor to France.”

The flight was initially intended to fly from Tel Aviv to Paris with a stop in Athens, Greece. Four hijackers commandeered the plane and forced Bacos to fly it to Benghazi, Libya, and then to Entebbe, Uganda.

The plane sat on the tarmac in Entebbe for several days. The terrorists eventually split up the passengers, separating out the hostages who were Israeli or Jewish. Bacos was the only person to have access to both groups of hostages during the crisis.

The hijackers eventually agreed to let Bacos and the non-Jewish hostages leave the plane, but Bacos would not leave, and his crew stood by him.

The plane was eventually liberated by the Israeli Defense Force. Bacos was awarded with the National Order of the Legion of Honor, Frances highest decoration. He was also honored by B'nai Brith.

Bacos continued to fly for Air France for another six years, retiring in 1982 at age 58.

(Image of Airbus Air France A300 similar to the hijacked aircraft from file)

FMI: Source report