Date: 23 June 1985

Location: Atlantic Ocean west of Cork, Ireland; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Type of event: terrorism

Description:

An Air India Boeing 747 en route from Montreal, Canada, to London, England, exploded in midair at 7:15 AM off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 aboard. The aircraft was about 180 km west of Cork, Ireland. About one hour earlier, a suitcase taken off a Canadair flight from Vancouver, Canada, to Tokyo, Japan, exploded at the Vancouver airport. It was concluded that the suitcase bomb exploded prematurely, having been intended for transfer to an Air India flight. Another bomb exploded at the Toyko International Airport before being transfered from a Canadian jetliner to a flight bound for Bombay, India; that explosion killed two baggage handlers and injured 4. The Indian government believed Sikh extremists were responsible.

Consequences: 331 killed, 4 injured

References:

• "Accident Database," PlaneCrashInfo.com, on line [http://www.planecrashinfo.com/database.htm].
• Dobson, Christopher, and Ronald Payne, The Never-Ending War: Terrorism in the 80's, 1987, Facts on File (New York, NY).
• The New York Times, 24 June 1985, pp. I 1:4, I 10:1; 26 June 1985, p. I 1:5; 27 June 1985, pp. I 14:5, I 15:1.

© 2017 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 26 November 2017.
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