The World - News from July 4, 1988

The Soviet airline Aeroflot has experienced more than 50 attempted hijackings in the past 15 years, the Soviet labor newspaper Trud reported. The report was believed to be the most complete report on air piracy in the Soviet Union to date. Trud quoted Deputy Aviation Minister Mikhail A. Timofeyev as suggesting the hijack attempts could have been caused by strict regulations limiting emigration. In Western and developing countries, he was quoted as saying, hijackers basically were trying to “solve their personal, criminal or political problems.” In contrast, statistics showed most Soviet hijackers to be “anti-social and criminal elements who are trying to escape responsibility abroad,” Timofeyev said.