15 August 2010

Reginald Levy Is Dead at 88; Hailed as a Hero in a ’72 Hijacking


As reported by NYT:

Reginald Levy, who as captain of a hijacked Belgian airliner in 1972 was hailed as a hero for enabling Israeli commandos to storm the plane and rescue all 100 passengers and crew members, died Sunday at a hospital near his home in Dover, England. He was 88.
The courage of Reginald Levy has deeper roots:
Captain Levy joined the Royal Air Force when he was 18, flew bombing missions over Germany and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944.
Read the whole story or even better obituary in Telegraph. Looking for another photograph of Captain Levy, I have found this mention of his WWII days.

RIP, Captain Levy, and thanks.

Hat tip: Tom Carew.

4 comments:

Dick Stanley said...

Nice to meet Capt. Levy, thanks. It's cool that Barak and Netanyehu were involved. Guess Bibi could be decisive when the chips were down.

Levy's type plywood Mosquito [nickname: The Wooden Wonder], showing the instruments in the nose. Miraculous survival, indeed. But he had that '72 date to keep, after all.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Bibi was then a junior, so he wasn't a decision maker at all, nor was Barak. Dayan was at the wheel.

jams o donnell said...

A brave man many times over. RIP

Dick's photos remind me I must take my dad up to the De Havilland museum for a reunion with the Mosquiti, his first and true love!

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Yep, De Havilland was definitely a man. He had what it takes, and with a bit more luck British commercial places could have dominated the market.