Airliner Hijackings Have Become Rare Events

by Felix Richter, Statista.com

-- this post authored by Niall McCarthy

Last week's hijacking of an EgyptAir flight from Cairo to Alexandria was a rare event.

Between 1968 and 1972, airliner hijackings were commonplace around the world, occurring almost weekly in the United States alone. Since then, however, heightened airport security measures including x-ray machines and metal detectors have dramatically reduced the number of hijackings.

Even when they do occur, hijackers are faced with strengthened and bullet resistant cockpit doors onboard, as well as air marshals in some cases. Even though yesterday's incident was resolved peacefully after the Airbus A320 landed in Cyprus, questions are going to be raised about security measures in Egyptian airports. In October, a Russian airliner is suspected to have been destroyed by a bomb shortly after taking off from Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport.

This chart shows the total number of airliner hijackings worldwide from 1968 to 2015.

You will find more statistics at Statista.