Michel Bacos

Michel Bacos
Born3 May 1924 (1924-05-03)
Port Saïd, Egypt
Died26 March 2019(2019-03-26) (aged 94)
Nice, France
NationalityFrench
OccupationAirline pilot
EmployerAir France
Known forPilot involved in Entebbe hijacking
TitleCaptain
Awards
Captain Michel Bacos

Michel Bacos (3 May 1924 – 26 March 2019)[1][2] was a French airline pilot. He was the captain of Air France Flight 139 when it was hijacked on 27 June 1976 by terrorists belonging to the German Revolutionary Cells (RZ) and the Palestinian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations (PFLP-EO).[3][4][5] The hijacking was part of an international campaign of Palestinian terrorism.[5]

Bacos was a recipient of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, the highest decoration in France.[6][7] He was also awarded a medal by the Israeli government for refusing to leave his Jewish passengers behind when the terrorists released their non-Jewish hostages and offered to release Bacos and his crew.[8]

  1. ^ Clarity, James F. (6 July 1976). "Pilot Says Africans Didn't Stand in for Gunmen". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  2. ^ Arava, Yael (3 July 2006). "הקברניט שלא נטש את נוסעיו" [The captain who didn't abandon his passengers]. Maariv (in Hebrew). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  3. ^ Dunstan, Simon (2011). Entebbe: The Most Daring Raid of Israel's Special Forces. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 9781448818686. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
  4. ^ Katz, Samuel M. (2004). Against all odds: counterterrorist hostage rescues. Twenty-First Century Books. ISBN 9780822515678. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
  5. ^ a b Ensalaco, Mark (2008). Middle Eastern terrorism: from Black September to September 11. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 96, 99. ISBN 9780812240467. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
  6. ^ "Entebbe Postscript". Flight International. 17 July 1976. p. 122. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  7. ^ Air et Cosmos, Issues 618–634, Impr. Reaumur., 1976, p. 48 (in French)
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference kaplan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).