Case 063: The Pan AM Flight 73 Bandits

It was supposed to be a routine flight.Instead, it became one of the deadliest hijackings in aviation history.In this powerful episode of Fugitive Files, we go back to September 5, 1986, when Pan Am Flight 73, en route from Bombay to New York, was stormed by four heavily armed terrorists on the tarmac in Karachi, Pakistan. What followed was a 16-hour hostage crisis that would leave 22 dead, more than 150 injured, and a world shaken by the brutality of a group known as the Abu Nidal Organization (ANO).While the lead hijacker, Zaid Hassan Abd Latif Safarini, was eventually captured and is now serving 160 years in U.S. federal prison, four other key operatives remain on the run. All are members of the ANO and listed as FBI Most Wanted Terrorists:Wadoud Muhammad Hafiz al-TurkiJamal Saeed Abdul RahimMuhammad Abdullah Khalil Hussain ar-RahayyalMuhammad Ahmed al-MunawarWe detail:The hijackers’ chilling demandsThe terrifying sequence of violence on boardThe heroic actions of the flight crew — including the smuggling away of American passports to protect passengersThe arrests, the escapees, and the international manhunt still underway nearly 40 years laterThis story is not just about terror. It’s about courage, survival, and the long memory of justice.This is Fugitive Files. Let’s get into it.