Minutes after departing from Haile Selassie I International Airport bound for Paris, when the aircraft was flying at some 29,000 feet (8,800 m),[2] seven members[nb 1] of the Eritrean Liberation Front stood up and tried to gain control of the plane.[1]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.[3] The grenade exploded in the rear part of the fuselage, some 6 inches (150 mm) 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.[2][3] Despite this, the crew turned back the airplane to the airport of origin and managed to land it safely;[2] it sustained minor damages that were repaired later. The seventh hijacker died in hospital of their injuries[1]
^There exists a discrepancy over the number of men and women in the group that attempted to hijack the aircraft, depending upon the source: five men and two women,[1] or six men and a woman.[3]
