In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “airliner hijacked by palestinian and japanese terrorists in july”. Today it says “passenger flight which was hijacked by the popular front for the liberation of palestine and japanese red army”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-02. In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “airliner hijacked by palestinian and japanese terrorists in july”. Today it says “passenger flight which was hijacked by the popular front for the liberation of palestine and japanese red army”.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2025 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2025
Japan Air Lines Flight 404 was a passenger flight which was hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Japanese Red Army on 20 July 1973. The aircraft was a Boeing 747-246B , with 123 passengers and 22 crew members on board. The passenger complement included five terrorists, led by Osamu Maruoka, a member of the Japanese Red Army , and the other four were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine . Just after takeoff from Schiphol Airport, the flight was hijacked. One of the hijackers accidentally detonated a grenade she was carrying, killing herself and severely injuring the chief purser. The lead hijacker almost immediately announced himself to air traffic control as El Kassar, hijacking the aircraft in the name of the Palestinian Liberation movement. After several Middle Eastern governments refused to permit Flight 404 to land, the plane eventually touched down in Dubai , in the United Arab Emirates. After several days on the ground, the terrorists demanded the release of Kozo Okamoto , survivor of the JRA's attack on Tel Aviv 's Lod Airport . After the Israeli government refused to release Okamoto, the hijackers flew the aircraft first to Damascus , Syria, and then to Benghazi , in Libya. On 23 July, 89 hours after the hijacking began, the passengers and crew were released; the hijackers then blew up the aircraft, making the incident the second hull loss of a Boeing 747, and the first hull loss of a 747-200. The first hull-loss was also the result of hijackers. Maruoka escaped, and in 1977, led the hijacking of Japan Air Lines Flight 472 . He remained a fugitive until 1987 when he was arrested in Tokyo after entering Japan on a forged passport. Given a life sentence, he died in prison on 29 May 2011. Center for Defense Information .
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1291474767.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Japan Air Lines Flight 404 was an airliner hijacked by Palestinian and Japanese terrorists in July, 1973. The flight departed Amsterdam-Schiphol International Airport , Netherlands , on July 23, 1973, en route to Tokyo International Airport (Haneda), Japan , via Anchorage International Airport , Alaska . The aircraft was a Boeing 747-246B , with 123 passengers and 22 crew members on board. The passenger complement included five terrorists, led by Osamu Maruoka, a member of the Japanese Red Army , and the other four were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine The flight was hijacked shortly after takeoff from Schiphol. In the course of the hijacking, a grenade carried by one of the skyjackers detonated, killing her and injuring the flight's chief purser. The lead hijacker almost immediately announced himself to air traffic control as El Kassar, hijacking the aircraft in the name of the Palestinian Liberation movement. After several Middle Eastern governments refused to permit Flight 404 to land, the plane eventually touched down in Dubai , in the United Arab Emirates . After several days on the ground, the terrorists demanded the release of Kozo Okamoto , survivor of the JRA's attack on Tel Aviv 's Lod Airport . After the Israeli government refused to release Okamoto, the hijackers flew the aircraft first to Damascus , Syria , and then to Benghazi , in Libya . Eighty-nine hours after the hijacking began, the passengers and crew were released; the hijackers then blew up the aircraft. A female PFLP member was killed in the explosion. Center for Defense Information .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 368235071.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Japan Air Lines Flight 404 (ドバイ日航機ハイジャック事件) was a passenger flight which was hijacked by Palestinian and Japanese terrorists on July 23, 1973. The flight departed Amsterdam-Schiphol International Airport , Netherlands , on July 23, 1973, en route to Tokyo International Airport (Haneda), Japan , via Anchorage International Airport , Alaska . The aircraft was a Boeing 747-246B , with 123 passengers and 22 crew members on board. The passenger complement included five terrorists, led by Osamu Maruoka, a member of the Japanese Red Army , and the other four were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine The flight was hijacked shortly after takeoff from Schiphol. In the course of the hijacking, a grenade carried by one of the skyjackers detonated, killing her and injuring the flight's chief purser. The lead hijacker almost immediately announced himself to air traffic control as El Kassar, hijacking the aircraft in the name of the Palestinian Liberation movement. After several Middle Eastern governments refused to permit Flight 404 to land, the plane eventually touched down in Dubai , in the United Arab Emirates . After several days on the ground, the terrorists demanded the release of Kozo Okamoto , survivor of the JRA's attack on Tel Aviv 's Lod Airport . After the Israeli government refused to release Okamoto, the hijackers flew the aircraft first to Damascus , Syria , and then to Benghazi , in Libya . 89 hours after the hijacking began, the passengers and crew were released; the hijackers then blew up the aircraft. Maruoka escaped and remained a fugitive until 1987 when he was arrested in Tokyo after entering Japan on a forged passport.Given a life sentence, he died in prison on 29 May 2011. Center for Defense Information .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 647231612.
The opening as it stood in 2020
1973 aircraft hijacking Japan Air Lines Flight 404 was a passenger flight which was hijacked by Palestinian and Japanese terrorists on July 20, 1973. The flight departed Amsterdam-Schiphol International Airport , Netherlands, on July 20, 1973, en route to Tokyo International Airport (Haneda), Japan, via Anchorage International Airport , Alaska . The aircraft was a Boeing 747-246B , with 123 passengers and 22 crew members on board. The passenger complement included five terrorists, led by Osamu Maruoka , a member of the Japanese Red Army , and the other four were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine . The flight was hijacked shortly after takeoff from Schiphol. In the course of the hijacking, a grenade carried by one of the skyjackers detonated, killing her and injuring the flight's chief purser. The lead hijacker almost immediately announced himself to air traffic control as El Kassar, hijacking the aircraft in the name of the Palestinian Liberation movement. After several Middle Eastern governments refused to permit Flight 404 to land, the plane eventually touched down in Dubai , in the United Arab Emirates. After several days on the ground, the terrorists demanded the release of Kozo Okamoto , survivor of the JRA's attack on Tel Aviv 's Lod Airport . After the Israeli government refused to release Okamoto, the hijackers flew the aircraft first to Damascus , Syria, and then to Benghazi , in Libya. On July 23, 89 hours after the hijacking began, the passengers and crew were released; the hijackers then blew up the aircraft, making the incident the second hull loss of a Boeing 747.Maruoka escaped, and in 1977, led the hijacking of Japan Airlines Flight 472 . He remained a fugitive until 1987 when he was arrested in Tokyo after entering Japan on a forged passport. Given a life sentence, he died in prison on 29 May 2011. Center for Defense Information .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 948404572.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
1973 aircraft hijacking Japan Air Lines Flight 404 was a passenger flight which was hijacked by Palestinian and Japanese terrorists on 20 July 1973. The aircraft was a Boeing 747-246B , with 123 passengers and 22 crew members on board. The passenger complement included five terrorists, led by Osamu Maruoka , a member of the Japanese Red Army , and the other four were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine . The flight was hijacked shortly after takeoff from Schiphol. In the course of the hijacking, a grenade carried by one of the skyjackers detonated, killing her and injuring the flight's chief purser. The lead hijacker almost immediately announced himself to air traffic control as El Kassar, hijacking the aircraft in the name of the Palestinian Liberation movement. After several Middle Eastern governments refused to permit Flight 404 to land, the plane eventually touched down in Dubai , in the United Arab Emirates. After several days on the ground, the terrorists demanded the release of Kozo Okamoto , survivor of the JRA's attack on Tel Aviv 's Lod Airport . After the Israeli government refused to release Okamoto, the hijackers flew the aircraft first to Damascus , Syria, and then to Benghazi , in Libya. On 23 July, 89 hours after the hijacking began, the passengers and crew were released; the hijackers then blew up the aircraft, making the incident the second hull loss of a Boeing 747. The first hull-loss was also the result of hijackers. Maruoka escaped, and in 1977, led the hijacking of Japan Air Lines Flight 472 . He remained a fugitive until 1987 when he was arrested in Tokyo after entering Japan on a forged passport. Given a life sentence, he died in prison on 29 May 2011. Center for Defense Information .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1167734669.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “airliner hijacked by palestinian and japanese terrorists in july”. Today it says “passenger flight which was hijacked by the popular front for the liberation of palestine and japanese red army”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
terror
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Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined between 2010 and 2025.
Then
airliner hijacked by palestinian and japanese terrorists in july
Now
passenger flight which was hijacked by the popular front for the liberation of palestine and japanese red army
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.