Leila Khaled (born April 9, 1944, Haifa) is a member of the Palestinian National Council. She first gained public notoriety for two hijackings in 1969 and 1970 as directed by the left-wing Palestinian organization PFLP.
On August 29, 1969 she hijacked TWA Flight 840 from Rome to Athens. She demanded that the pilot land in Damascus after flying over Haifa, her birthplace. No one was injured, although the plane, a Boeing 707 was blown up. PFLP leadership had thought that Yitzak Rabin, the Israeli ambassador to the United States would be aboard the plane; he was not.
On September 6, 1970, she and Patrick Arguello tried to hijack El Al Flight 219 from Amsterdam to New York as part of the Dawson's Field hijackings--a series of hijackings that day being carried out by PFLP operatives. The attack was foiled when on board Israeli security forces shot Arguello to death and overpowered her. The pilot landed in London, where Leila Khaled was delivered to the British Police. On October 1 she was exchanged for other hostages.
She is now married, living in Jordan, and has two sons.
The Doctor Who character Leela was named by writer Chris Boucher in reference to Leila Khaled.
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