Incident Summary:
02/15/1983: Armed with a 9mm submachine automatic rifle and possibly a bomb, Iranian immigrant, Hussein Shey Kholya, hijacked Rio Airways Flight 252 about halfway through the one hour flight from Killeen, Texas, en route to Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport in Dallas, Texas. During the incident, Kholya held hostage the 21 other passengers and crew members on the plane, and only released them after diverting the plane to land in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, once Kholya made a deal with Mexican officials for a plane ticket to Cuba in exchange for the release of the passengers. All the hostages were released unharmed. Kholya's motivation for hijacking the plane was because he was opposed to U.S. policy towards Iran and he wanted to make Americans aware of the conditions in Iran.
Overview
GTD ID:
198302150008
When:
1983-02-15
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Texas
City:
Killeen
Location Details:
The incident occurred aboard Rio Airways Flight 252
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Hijacking |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Airports and Aircraft |
Name of Entity |
Rio Airways |
Specific Description |
Rio Airways Flight 252 departing from Killeen, Texas, en route to Dallas |
Nationality of Target |
United States |
Additional Information
Hostages |
Yes |
Number of Hostages |
21 |
US Hostages |
21 |
Hours of Kidnapping |
2 |
Days of Kidnapping |
0 |
Outcome |
Hostage(s) released by perpetrators |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Automatic Weapon |
Weapon Details |
9mm submachine gun |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Additional Information |
The plane was seized at about 10:27am south of Dallas, and landed in Nuevo Laredo at about 11:45am. Kholya, who was reportedly a former Iranian air force pilot, claimed he had a bomb and threatened to blow up the aircraft, which was a de Havilland-7, a four-engine, 48-passenger turboprop. Additionally, Kholya had a statement with him on the plane, which stated that 26,000 Iranians "have been killed for no cause." The passengers were freed in two groups; six passengers were released just after the plane landed in Nuevo Laredo and the remaining 15 hostages were let go just before the gunman boarded the Mexican jet. Kholya requested a flight to Cuba, but he was taken to police headquarters in Mexico pending his extradition to the United States. His extradition could not be arranged; he was being charged with air piracy, kidnapping and carrying a firearm without a permit. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Iranian extremists |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
1 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
1 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
"FBI Analysis of Terrorist Incidents in the United States: 1983," Terrorist Research and Analytical Center, Terrorism Section, Criminal Investigative Division, FBI, DOJ, 1983. |
Concepcion Badillo, The Associated Press, February 16, 1983. |
"Iranian Hijacker Charged," The Associated Press, March 9, 1983. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties