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The Sigonella Crisis - HOLY SHIT!

It is a maxim of this wiki that no article will be "blog-like" - it will instead be encyclopaedic at every opportunity.

We will never, never, have an article with a link-bait title such as "The Sigonella What? You won't believe this!"

Instead, the conventions which we follow will always comply with correct journalistic protocols, processes, procedures, platonic ideals, and platitudes. And never stray into being any mere opinion piece.

Hence, for this article, we've opted for the heading:

"The Sigonella Crisis - HOLY SHIT"

...as this gives the complete story, in five succinct words.

It all began with the Achille Lauro hijacking

1985 - October

the Italian ocean liner MS Achille Lauro was hijacked by four men from the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF), off the coast of Egypt, as she was sailing (to Israel)

One thing led to another, and the four hijackers sought refuge in Egypt.

On October 10 a Boeing 737 of the Egyptian Airlines was requisitioned by the Cairo government. It was duly loaded with the four hijackers of the Achille Lauro, and several PLO representatives (including Abu Abbas), an Egyptian ambassador and several Egyptian security service agents. The flight took off at 11:15 p.m.

US Intelligence services heard about this flight, and opted for a mid air interception.

Four F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft took off from the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga and flew alongside the plane, which at this point was somewhere near Malta.

The fighter aircraft went about flying aggressively around and toward the Egyptian plane, flashing their headlights, displaying the bird (I imagine) and dipping their wings in a suggestive manner. They jumped on the blower and instructed the Egyptian plane to make a swift landing at Sigonella Air Base, Sicily, or feel the heat of these missiles, sort of thing.

Thereafter, the Americans jumped back on the blower, contacting the Sicilians this time, and requested permission for all four F-14s and one Egyptian Boeing to touch down at Sigonella. No mention was made of the two C-141 Starlifters that had also joined the parade. A Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, it might be mentioned, is a large military transport jet with four engines, an imposing figure and the ability to carry and deploy an invading force of hundreds of soldiers. Its vast fuselage, thunderous engines, and extensive range make it less like a plane and more like a flying declaration of military might.

Air Force Colonel Ercolano Annicchiarico was in charge of Sigonella airport that night. The request came in at around 10:30pm, and he promptly denied the request. If this was one of those mere "blogs" and not some encyclopaedic article, there would be a kind of reductionist line in here such as "he must've almost choked on his spaghetti marinara, when he first heard the request!" -- and I'm glad not to be writing one of those articles.

Annicchiarico swiftly informed the four F-14 tomcats that they were not approved, not welcome, and not cleared for landing. At this early stage even Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi had not been informed of the unfolding events. Oliver North had been trying without success to contact Craxi, and soon turned to CIA consultant Michael Ledeen, who had been at university with Craxi and presumably knew how to reach his old school chum. It was midnight before Craxi informed Admiral Fulvio Martini, head of the Military Intelligence Service, that he approved of the landing. Word filtered through to Annicchiarico, and Annicchiarico gave clearance for the landing. Down came the four F-14s and the Egyptian Boeing. Shortly afterwards, two United States Air Force C-141 Starlifters of the Delta Force, without notice, and with lights out, descended onto the runway. At this point, it's safe to say, Colonel Ercolano Annicchiarico choked on his pizza.

Once on the ground, the Starlifters didn't stay put. They immediately made a mad dash toward the Egyptian Boeing. It was immediately clear their intent was to pick up the hijackers, as well as Abu Abbas, and take them into US military custody. A crack team of US Delta Force operators emerged from C-141 Starlifters, with guns drawn, and surrounded every visible member of the airports guard force (the VAM or Vigilanza Aeronautica Militare) and every visible Caribinieri, preparing to perform their heist, post-haste. But within minutes a second, and far larger contingent of Caribinieri arrived, from the nearby barracks at Catania and Syracuse, and surrounded the US Delta force.

Furthermore, this fresh batch of Caribinieri prevented the potential for escape by placing in and around the aircraft, a number of obstacles, including, locked and secured:

1 tanker truck
several fire-fighting vehicles
1 crane

As reported in the Wikipedia article, in a severe understatement. "There followed minutes of extremely high tension"

wiki.secretGeek

The Sigonella Crisis - HOLY SHIT!

1985 - October

References

See Also