On 18 February 1969 , Palestinians attacked an El Al plane at Zurich Airport killing the copilot and injuring the pilot . One Palestinian attacker was killed and others were convicted but later released . Between September and December of that year , bomb and grenade attacks occurred at El Al offices in Athens , West Berlin , and Brussels . This wave of violence culminated in the failed hijacking of an El Al 707 by Patrick Arguello and Leila Khaled on 6 September 1970 , as part of the Dawson 's Field hijackings . El Al acquired its first Boeing 747 jet in 1971 . Many felt it was a risky purchase given the high cost of the plane and fear of attacks , but El Al operations flourished after the purchase . Another Boeing 747 was delivered in 1973 and was used to start non-stop service from Tel Aviv to New York ( El Al – Boeing 707s had flown the eastward nonstop since around 1961 ) . El Al passengers and passengers from other airlines were attacked at Lod Airport in 1972 , it was known as the Lod Airport massacre
Dawson 's Field hijackings
Dawson's Field hijackings
El Al