In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “captain of air france flight 139 when the plane was hijacked on june 27”. Today it says “french airline pilot”.
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 “captain of air france flight 139 when the plane was hijacked on june 27”. Today it says “french airline pilot”.
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
He was the captain of Air France Flight 139 when it was hijacked on 27 June 1976 by terrorists belonging to the German Revolutionary Cells (RZ) and the Palestinian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – External Operations (PFLP-EO). The hijacking was part of an international campaign of Palestinian terrorism . Bacos was a recipient of the National Order of the Legion of Honour , the highest decoration in France. He was also awarded a medal by the Israeli government for refusing to leave his Jewish passengers behind when the terrorists released their non-Jewish hostages and offered to release Bacos and his crew. The New York Times . "הקברניט שלא נטש את נוסעיו" [The captain who didn't abandon his passengers]. Middle Eastern terrorism: from Black September to September 11 .
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1288826528.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Michel Bacos was captain of Air France Flight 139 when the plane was hijacked on June 27, 1976 by Palestinian and German terrorists. The hijacking was part of an international campaign of Palestinian political violence . The plane originated in Tel Aviv , was hijacked in Athens , and was then forced to Libya and then Uganda . When the terrorists freed the non-Jewish passengers, Bacos refused to leave the plane. He and his crew stayed behind with the Jewish hostages. The captives were freed in an Israeli commando raid known as Operation Entebbe . Air France later punished Bacos for not leaving the plane with the non-Jewish passengers.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 352676099.
The opening as it stood in 2015 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Michel Bacos (born 1924) was captain of Air France Flight 139 when the plane was hijacked on June 27, 1976, by Palestinian and German terrorists. The hijacking, by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was part of an international campaign of Palestinian political violence .Bacos is a recipient of the National Order of the Legion of Honour , the highest decoration in France.He also was awarded a medal by the Israeli government, for refusing to leave his Jewish passengers behind when the terrorists released their non-Jewish hostages, and offered to release Bacos and his crew."Pilot Says Africans Didn't Stand In for Gunmen", New York Times , July 6, 1976 Arava, Yael: "The captain who didn't abandon his passengers" .Middle Eastern terrorism: from Black September to September 11 .University of Pennsylvania Press .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 620580818.
The opening as it stood in 2020 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
He was the captain of Air France Flight 139 when it was hijacked on 27 June 1976 by Palestinian and German terrorists belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine .The hijacking was part of an international campaign of Palestinian terrorism . Bacos was a recipient of the National Order of the Legion of Honour , the highest decoration in France. He was also awarded a medal by the Israeli government for refusing to leave his Jewish passengers behind when the terrorists released their non-Jewish hostages and offered to release Bacos and his crew. The New York Times ."הקברניט שלא נטש את נוסעיו" [The captain who didn't abandon his passengers]. Middle Eastern terrorism: from Black September to September 11 .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 965469017.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
He was the captain of Air France Flight 139 when it was hijacked on 27 June 1976 by Palestinian and German terrorists belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine . The hijacking was part of an international campaign of Palestinian terrorism . Bacos was a recipient of the National Order of the Legion of Honour , the highest decoration in France. He was also awarded a medal by the Israeli government for refusing to leave his Jewish passengers behind when the terrorists released their non-Jewish hostages and offered to release Bacos and his crew. The New York Times . "הקברניט שלא נטש את נוסעיו" [The captain who didn't abandon his passengers]. Middle Eastern terrorism: from Black September to September 11 .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1156285776.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “captain of air france flight 139 when the plane was hijacked on june 27”. Today it says “french airline pilot”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
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2025
terror
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hostage
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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
captain of air france flight 139 when the plane was hijacked on june 27
Now
french airline pilot
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.
