Aftermath and Criticism
In his 1989 book Massacre in Malta, John A. Mizzi writes:
| “ | Malta was faced with a problem it was ill-equipped to meet. The authorities took a firm stand in denying fuel to the hijackers but made no sensible provisions, through political bias and lack of experience, to meet the circumstances that arose from this decision. No proper team was set up at the outset to evaluate or deal progressively with the crisis, although only a few days previously an incident management course had been organized by a team of U.S. experts in Malta at the request of the government. | ” |
Mizzi adds:
| “ | The Egyptian commandos were given too free a hand and they acted out of their mission with little regard for the safety of the passengers. They were determined to get the hijackers at all costs and the Maltese government's initial refusal for U.S. anti-terrorist resources (a team led by a major-general with listening devices and other equipment) offered by the State Department through the U.S. Embassy in Malta - a decision reversed too late - contributed in no small measure to the mismanagement of the entire operation. | ” |
Mizzi also mentions how Maltese soldiers positioned in the vicinity of the aircraft were equipped with rifles but were not issued ammunition. Furthermore, an Italian secret service report on the incident showed how the fire inside the aircraft was caused by the Egyptian commandos who placed explosives in the aircraft cargo hold - the most vulnerable part of the aircraft, as it held the oxygen tanks which blew up. During the hijacking, only the Socialist Party media and state-controlled television were given information on the incident. Such was the censorship of the media that the Maltese people first heard of the disaster through RAI TV, when its correspondent Enrico Mentana spoke live on the air via a direct phone call: "Parlo da Malta. Qui c'è stato un massacro ..." ("I'm speaking from Malta. Here there's just been a massacre ...") Shortly before this broadcast, a news bulletin on the Maltese national television had erroneously stated that all passengers had been released and were safe.
Decisions taken by the Maltese government drew criticism from overseas. The United States protested to Malta about the U.S. personnel sent to resolve the issue having been confined to Air Squadron HQ and the U.S. Embassy in Floriana. The United States had seen the situation as so ‘hot’ that it had ordered a number of U.S. naval ships, including an aircraft carrier, to move toward Malta for contingency purposes.
EgyptAir now uses Flight 648 on its Riyadh-Cairo route.
Read more about this topic: EgyptAir Flight 648
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