Throwback Thursday: Insurers retreat from war risk cover

5 December 1985: Deadly hijacking hardens war risk market

The Egypt Airlines Boeing 737 massacre at Malta Airport triggered a review of war risk cover in the aviation market, Post reported.

Hull and liability exposures for hijacking scares were being checked, John Miller reported, who added the renewal season for airline policies would see a sharp conflict of views on what should be charged.

The hijacking of EgyptAir Flight 648 by  Palestinian terrorist organisation Abu Nidal in 1985 was one of the deadliest hijackings in history: 52 passengers – including pregnant women and children – suffocated from the fumes that enveloped the aircraft when the soldiers placed a bomb underneath the fuselage to break into the hold, and another five were shot.