Arms Came From Cairo, IATA Suspects

The International Air Transport Assn. said Monday it suspects that the hijackers of an EgyptAir jet smuggled their weapons aboard in Cairo rather than at Athens. Three experts will fly to Cairo airport today to examine its security.

“We are increasingly wondering if Cairo is being used to put arms on aircraft,” David Kyd, a spokesman for IATA, said. “This could also have been the case with the TWA hijacking in June, as that flight also originated in Cairo.”

Several men commandeered an EgyptAir Boeing 737 on Saturday soon after it took off from Athens en route to Cairo. The flight was to be the return leg of a trip that began in Cairo earlier Saturday. The hijackers forced the jet to land in Malta, where commandos stormed the EgyptAir plane Sunday night, leading to a firefight that killed many aboard.

The IATA Monday appealed to governments on behalf of world airlines to enforce rigorous security at airports.

“In the wake of the shock of recent air terrorist activity including the EgyptAir tragedy, there is an urgent need to prevent further loss of life among air passengers and crews,” the appeal said.

The EgyptAir hijacking marked the second time since June that a plane originating in Cairo was hijacked after takeoff from Athens. In the earlier case, a TWA Boeing 747 was forced to crisscross the Mediterranean several times before eventually stopping in Beirut.

Thirty-nine Americans were held hostage by Lebanese gunmen in Beirut for 16 days and one U.S. sailor was killed by the TWA hijackers during the episode.

Kyd said the IATA security expert and two other security men provided by unnamed member airlines had planned for some time to visit Cairo but with the EgyptAir hijacking the trip “now obviously comes at a critical time.”

IATA is seeking an agreement from the Greek government to make another trip to Athens airport after the Cairo inspection, he said.