Editing Unit 777 (section)

==EgyptAir Flight 648, 1985==
In 1985, Unit 777 was dispatched again to deal with a hijacking, this time to [[Malta]]. An [[Egypt Air]] [[Boeing 737#737-200|Boeing 737]] ([[EgyptAir Flight 648]]) had landed in [[Luqa Airport]] under the control of [[Abu Nidal]] faction terrorists, purportedly as retaliation for Egypt's failure to protect the terrorists that had hijacked the [[MS Achille Lauro|MS ''Achille Lauro'']] earlier that year.<ref name=bbc>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/24/newsid_4356000/4356024.stm|title=BBC On This Day 1985: Commandoes storm hijacked plane|access-date=2009-02-08|date=1985-11-24|work=BBC News}}</ref> Although the operation was planned more carefully this time, the TF 777 operators committed several mistakes that would eventually prove fatal to many of the hostages.<ref>{{cite news|title=Anniversary of a massacre - The EgyptAir hijack in Malta|url=http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20101123/local/anniversary-of-a-massacre-the-egyptair-hijacking-in-malta.337385|access-date=2 June 2015|work=[[Times of Malta]]|date=23 November 2010}}</ref> As explosives were detonated to attempt to blow a hole on the top of the airframe, the explosion ripped through the cabin area, immediately killing 20 passengers.<ref>Some sources claim that the terrorists hurled grenades, causing many of the deaths.</ref> Using the same hole, the operators gained entry to the plane but in the confusion opened fire indiscriminately and killed and injured more passengers. In the ensuing chaos, passengers that managed to flee the plane were then gunned down by snipers in positions around the airport who mistook them for terrorists attempting to escape. The total number of passengers killed was 57, out of 88 total.<ref name="Ryan, p.23">Ryan, p.23</ref>