hijacked at Houari Boumedienne Airport in Algiers, by four terrorists who belonged to the Armed Islamic Group. The terrorists apparently intended to crash the plane over the Eiffel Tower on Boxing Day. After a failed attempt to leave Marseille following a confrontational firefight between the terrorists and the GIGN French Special Forces, the result was the death of all four terrorists. (Snipers on the terminal front's roof shot dead two of the terrorists. The other two terrorists died as a result of gunshots in the cabin after approximately 20 minutes.) Three hostages including a Vietnamese diplomat were executed in Algiers, 229 hostages survived, many of them wounded by shrapnel. The almost 15-year-old aircraft was written off. 24 December 1999: Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 from Kathmandu, Nepal, to New Delhi was hijacked. After refueling and offloading a few passengers, the flight was diverted to Kandahar, Afghanistan. A Nepalese man was murdered while the plane was in flight. 22 November 2003: European Air Transport OO-DLL, operating on behalf of DHL Aviation, was hit by an SA-14 'Gremlin' missile after takeoff from Baghdad International Airport. The aeroplane lost hydraulic pressure and thus the controls. After extending the landing gear to create more drag, the crew piloted the plane using differences in engine thrust and landed the plane with minimal further damage. The plane was repaired and offered for sale, but in April 2011 it still remained parked at Baghdad Intl. 25 August 2011: an A300B4-620 5A-IAY of Afriqiyah Airways and A300B4-622 5A-DLZ of Libyan Arab Airlines were both destroyed in fighting between pro- and anti-Gadaffi forces at Tripoli International Airport. Aircraft on display Four A300s are currently preserved: F-BUAD Airbus A300 ZERO-G, since August 2015 preserved at Cologne Bonn Airport, Germany. ex-HL7219 Korean Air Airbus A300B4 preserved at Korean Air Jeongseok Airfield. ex-N11984 Continental Airlines Airbus A300B4 preserved in South Korea as a Night Flight Restaurant. ex-PK-JID Sempati Air Airbus A300B4 repainted in first A300B1 prototype colours, including original F-WUAB registration, became an exhibit in 2014 at the Aeroscopia museum in Blagnac, near Toulouse, France. Specifications See also References Further reading External links A300 1970s international airliners Twinjets Articles containing video clips Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1972 Wide-body aircraft