Editing Aircraft hijacking (section)

=== 2001–present ===
{{See also|September 11 attacks}}
On September 11, 2001, four airliners were hijacked by 19 [[Al-Qaeda]] [[extremist]]s: [[American Airlines Flight 11]], [[United Airlines Flight 175]], [[American Airlines Flight 77]] and [[United Airlines Flight 93]]. The first two planes were deliberately crashed into the Twin Towers of the [[World Trade Center (1973-2001)|World Trade Center]] in [[New York City]] and the third was crashed into [[The Pentagon]] in [[Arlington County, Virginia]]. The fourth crashed in a field in [[Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania|Stonycreek Township]] near [[Shanksville, Pennsylvania]] after crew and passengers attempted to overpower the hijackers. Authorities believe that the intended target was the [[United States Capitol|U.S. Capitol]] or the [[White House]] in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington DC]]. In total, [[Casualties of the September 11 attacks|2,996 people]] (2,977 if excluding the perpetrators) perished and more than 6,000 were injured in the attacks, making the hijackings the deadliest in modern history.

Following the attacks, the U.S. government formed the [[Transportation Security Administration]] (TSA) to handle airport screening at U.S. airports. Government agencies around the world tightened their airport security, procedures and intelligence gathering.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal|last1=Stewart|first1=Mark J.|last2=Mueller|first2=John|date=29 April 2008|title=A risk and cost-benefit assessment of United States aviation security measures|journal=Journal of Transportation Security|volume=1|issue=3|pages=143–159|doi=10.1007/s12198-008-0013-0|s2cid=13317666|via=Springer Science}}</ref> Until the September 11 attacks, there had never been an incident whereby a passenger aircraft was used as a weapon of mass destruction. The [[9/11 Commission]] report stated that it was always assumed that a "hijacking would take the traditional form";<ref name="comish">{{Cite web|url=http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Ch1.htm|title=National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States|website=CyberCemetery|publisher=University of North Texas Libraries/U.S. Government Printing Office|access-date=2019-07-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514052417/http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/911Report_Ch1.htm|archive-date=2008-05-14|url-status=live}}</ref> therefore, airline crews never had a contingency plan for a suicide-hijacking.<ref name="sum">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/22/politics/summary-of-final-report.html|title=Summary of Final Report|date=2004-07-22|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-07-05|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705221731/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/22/politics/summary-of-final-report.html|archive-date=2019-07-05|url-status=live}}</ref> As Patrick Smith, an airline pilot, summarizes:

{{blockquote|One of the big ironies here is the success of the 2001 attacks had nothing to do with airport security in the first place. It was a failure of national security. What the men actually exploited was a weakness in our mind-set{{snd}}a set of presumptions based on decades-long track record of hijackings. In years past, a hijacking meant a diversion, with hostage negotiations and standoffs. The only weapon that mattered was the intangible one: the element of surprise.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |title=Cockpit confidential : everything you need to know about air travel : questions, answers & reflections |last=Smith, Patrick |isbn=978-1492663973 |edition=Revised and updated |location=Naperville, Illinois |oclc=1039369001|date=2018-06-05 }}</ref>}}

Throughout the mid-2000s, hijackings still occurred but there were much fewer incidents and casualties. The number of incidents had been declining, even before the September 11 attacks. One notable incident in 2006 was the hijacking of [[Turkish Airlines Flight 1476]], flying from [[Tirana]] to [[Istanbul]], which was seized by a man named Hakan Ekinci. The aircraft, with 107 passengers and 6 crew, made distress calls to [[air traffic control]] and the plane was escorted by military aircraft before landing safely at [[Brindisi]], Italy. In 2007, several incidents occurred in the Middle East and [[North Africa|Northern Africa]]; hijackers in one of these incidents claimed to be affiliated with [[Al-Qaeda]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/19/europe/turkey.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080622142418/http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/19/europe/turkey.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-06-22|title=Pilots and passengers foil hijacking of Turkish jet |journal=International Herald Tribune|date=2008-06-22|access-date=2019-07-06}}</ref> Towards the end of the decade, [[Aeroméxico|AeroMexico]] experienced its first terror incident when [[Aeroméxico Flight 576|Flight 576]] was hijacked by a man demanding to speak with [[Mexican President|President]] [[Felipe Calderón|Calderón]]. In 2007, [[Air West Flight 612|a man failed to hijack a 737-200 with 103 people on board over Chad.]]

Between 2010 and 2019, the [[Aviation Safety Network]] estimates there have been 15 hijackings worldwide with three fatalities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aviation-safety.net/statistics/period/stats.php?cat=A1|title=Aviation Safety Network > Statistics > By period|last=Ranter|first=Harro|website=aviation-safety.net|access-date=2019-07-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824230442/https://aviation-safety.net/statistics/period/stats.php?cat=A1|archive-date=2019-08-24|url-status=live}}</ref> This is a considerably lower figure than in previous decades which can be attributed to greater security enhancements and awareness of September 11–style attacks.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/03/29/hijackings-rare-after-911-security-improvements/82375474/|title=Hijackings rare after 9/11 security improvements|website=USA Today|language=en|access-date=2019-07-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706110314/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/03/29/hijackings-rare-after-911-security-improvements/82375474/|archive-date=2019-07-06|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2016/03/30/why-hijackings-are-no-longer-common|title=Why hijackings are no longer common|date=2016-03-30|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=2019-07-06|issn=0013-0613|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706110314/https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2016/03/30/why-hijackings-are-no-longer-common|archive-date=2019-07-06|url-status=live}}</ref> On June 29, 2012, an attempt was made to hijack [[Tianjin Airlines Flight GS7554]] from [[Hotan]] to [[Ürümqi]] in China. More recently was the 2016 hijacking of [[EgyptAir]] [[EgyptAir Flight 181|Flight MS181]], involving an Egyptian man who claimed to have a bomb and ordered the plane to land in [[Cyprus]]. He surrendered several hours later, after freeing the passengers and crew.<ref name=":9" />