The World : Soviet Hijacking

A Soviet airliner was hijacked in the Soviet Union, and the hijackers demanded to be allowed to land in Israel, Israeli officials said. The plane was on the ground at an undisclosed location in the Soviet Union, said Menahem Eyal, spokesman for Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv. It was not clear whether the hijackers still had control over the plane, said Eyal, adding that Ben Gurion was on a low-grade alert. Eyal said the information came from Soviet civil aviation authorities who contacted officials at Ben Gurion.