Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708 was a Boeing 720-060B, due to operate an international scheduled Addis Ababa–Asmara–Athens–Rome–Paris passenger service, that experienced a hijacking attempt on 8 December 1972.

Summary
Minutes after departing from Haile Selassie I International Airport bound for Paris, when the aircraft was flying at some 29000 ft, seven members of the Eritrean Liberation Front stood up and tried to gain control of the plane. Onboard security guards opened fire on the hijackers, killing six. During the firefight a hand grenade that was armed by one of the hijackers was rolled down the aisle by a passenger. The grenade exploded in the rear part of the fuselage, some 6 in off the plane's centreline, blowing a hole in the cabin floor and damaging or severing several controls of the aircraft, including those of throttle of two engines, of the rudder, and of the horizontal stabiliser. Despite this, the crew turned back the airplane to the airport of origin and managed to land it safely; it sustained minor damages that were repaired later. The seventh hijacker died in hospital of their injuries