Did Wikipedia remove the word "martyr" from the Pan Am Flight 73 article?

Yes. "martyr" appeared 1 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today it appears nowhere in the article, references included. We saved the article's opening paragraph at 6 moments between 2005 and 2025, and the counts come from those saved copies.

When did the Pan Am Flight 73 article stop using the word "martyr"?

The word appeared 1 times in the opening at its peak in 2005. It appears nowhere in the article today, checked against the live article on 2026-08-02.

How can I verify what Wikipedia's Pan Am Flight 73 article used to say?

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What did Wikipedia remove from the Pan Am Flight 73 article?

The opening as it read in 2005

Pan Am Flight 73 was a flight that was hijacked on September 5 , 1986 by four armed men of the Abu Nidal organization.¹ The Boeing 747 aircraft departing from Karachi International Airport in Karachi , Pakistan en route to John F. At least twenty people were killed during the hijacking, including citizens of the United States, Pakistan, India and Mexico. The incident began as passengers were boarding the aircraft for a flight that had originated in Bombay , India , and was scheduled to fly to Frankfurt , Germany , en route to New York. On the day of the hijacking, the hijackers were dressed as Karachi airport security guards and armed with assault rifles, pistols, grenades and plastic explosive belts. At approximately 6:00 a.m. local time, the hijackers drove a van that had been modified to look like an airport security vehicle through a security checkpoint at the Karachi airport, without challenge, and drove up to one of the stairways being used to board passengers for Pan Am Flight 73. Over the next approximately 16 hours, Safarini, as the leader of the hijackers on board the aircraft, demanded the return of a flight crew to fly the aircraft to Larnaca , Cyprus , where Safarini and his fellow hijackers wanted to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners being detained in Cyprus. During the course of negotiations between Safarini and Pakistani authorities, Safarini threatened to kill all of the passengers. Within a short time after seizing control of the aircraft, Safarini ordered the flight attendants to collect the passports of passengers. The flight attendants complied with this request but, risking their own lives, they surreptitiously declined to collect some of the United States passports and hid other United States passports from the hijackers. After the passports had been collected, Safarini walked through the cabin of the aircraft, asking passengers about their nationalities. When he arrived at the seat of Rajesh Kumar, a 29-year-old California resident who had recently been naturalized as an American citizen, Safarini ordered Mr. Kumar to come to the front of the aircraft, to kneel at the front doorway of the aircraft and to face the front of the aircraft with his hands behind his head. At approximately 10:00 a.m., Safarini became angry about the delay in complying with his demand for a new flight crew and he threatened that he would shoot Mr. Kumar if something was not done within 15 minutes. Kumar and shot him in the head in front of witnesses both on and off the aircraft. Kumar out of the door onto the tarmac below. Pakistani personnel on the tarmac reported that Mr. Kumar was still breathing when he was placed in an ambulance, but he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a hospital in Karachi. As the hours wore on and nightfall came, the lights on the aircraft began to dim and flicker, due to a mechanical failure. At Safarini's instruction, the hijackers herded the passengers and crew members into the center section of the aircraft. Safarini and one other hijacker positioned themselves in front of the crowd of passengers in the right and left aisles, while the two other hijackers positioned themselves behind the crowd of passengers and crew in the right and left aisles. On Safarini's signal, after the hijackers recited a martyrdom prayer in Arabic, and after the lights on the aircraft had gone out, the four hijackers opened fire on the assembled passengers and crew, throwing hand grenades into the crowd and spraying the trapped passengers with automatic weapons fire, attempting to kill as many passengers and crew members as possible. At least 20 additional passengers and crew were killed during this final deadly assault, including a second United States citizen, 50-year-old Surendra Patel, the father of three children, two of whom were next to him on the aircraft when he was shot. Scores of other passengers were injured. Most of the surviving passengers and crew, including 76 United States citizens, escaped through two doors of the plane which were forced open by heroic passengers and flight attendants when the firing began. Many passengers and crew were forced to jump from the wing of the aircraft onto the tarmac in order to escape the hijackers. In late 2001 the leader of the Palestinian hijackers, Zayd Hassan Abd Al-Latif Masud Al Safarini, was captured in Pakistan and taken to the United States, where he has since been sentenced to a 160 year prison term. (in 2004) At the plea proceeding, Safarini admitted that he and his fellow hijackers committed the offenses charged in this case as members of the Abu Nidal Organization, also called the ANO, a foreign terrorist organization. Safarini and the other hijackers were initially prosecuted in Pakistan and convicted of numerous crimes resulting from the hijacking. Safarini served 15 years in prison in Pakistan before being released by Pakistani authorities and then apprehended by United States law enforcement personnel in late September 2001.²

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16299878.

The opening as it stood in 2010 30 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Pan Am Flight 73 , a Pan American World Airways Boeing 747-121 , was hijacked on September 5, 1986, while on the ground at Karachi, Pakistan , by four armed men of the Abu Nidal Organization . The aircraft, with 360 on board, had just arrived from Sahar International Airport in Bombay , India and was preparing to depart Jinnah International Airport in Karachi for Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt am Main , West Germany , ultimately continuing on to John F. At least 20 of the passengers were killed during the hijacking, of which 13 were from India and the rest were from United States, Pakistan and Mexico. All the hijackers were arrested and sentenced to death by Pakistan. However, Pakistan later released all the hijackers against the wishes of the United States and India.

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 367464732.

The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Pan Am Flight 73 , a Pan American World Airways Boeing 747-121 , was hijacked on September 5, 1986, while on the ground at Karachi, Pakistan , by four armed Palestinian men of the Abu Nidal Organization . The aircraft, with 360 passengers on board, had just arrived from Sahar International Airport in Mumbai, India, and was preparing to depart Jinnah International Airport in Karachi for Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany, ultimately continuing on to John F. A June, 2001 grand jury charged that the terrorists were planning to use the hijacked plane to pick up Palestinian prisoners in both Cyprus and Israel. However, in 2006 surviving hostage Michael Thexton published a book in which he claimed he had heard the hijackers intended to crash the plane into a target in Israel (in the manner of 9/11 ). Twenty of the passengers were killed during the hijacking, of which 12 were from India and the rest were from United States, Pakistan and Mexico. All the hijackers were arrested and sentenced to death in Pakistan. United States Department of Justice . What happened to the hippyman?

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 663266862.

The opening as it stood in 2020 4 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

Pan Am Flight 73 was a Pan American World Airways flight from Bombay , India, to New York, with scheduled stops in Karachi , Pakistan and Frankfurt , West Germany. On September 5, 1986, the Boeing 747-121 serving the flight was hijacked while on the ground at Karachi by four armed Palestinian men of the Abu Nidal Organization . The aircraft, with 360 passengers on board, had just arrived from Bombay. A grand jury later concluded that the militants were planning to use the hijacked airliner to pick up Palestinian prisoners in both Cyprus and Israel. Forty-three passengers were injured or killed during the hijacking, including nationals from India, the United States, Pakistan, and Mexico. All the hijackers were arrested and sentenced to death in Pakistan. However, the sentences were later commuted to life in prison. Neerja Bhanot , head attendant on the flight, posthumously received India's highest peacetime award for bravery, the Ashok Chakra Award , for her efforts to save passengers' lives. Washington, DC: Federal Bureau of Investigation . Asian Tribune . : Check |archive-url= value ( help ) "United States of America v. United States Department of Justice . The Times of India .

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 961477161.

The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear

1986 airliner hijacking Pan Am Flight 73 was a Pan American World Airways flight from Bombay , India , to New York , United States with scheduled stops in Karachi , Pakistan and Frankfurt , West Germany . On September 5, 1986, the Boeing 747-121 serving the flight was hijacked while on the ground at Karachi by four armed Palestinian men of the Abu Nidal Organization . The aircraft, with 360 passengers on board, had just arrived from Bombay. A grand jury later concluded that the militants were planning to use the hijacked airliner to pick up Palestinian prisoners in both Cyprus and Israel. More than twenty passengers were killed during the hijacking, including nationals from India, the United States, Pakistan, and Mexico. All the hijackers were arrested and sentenced to death in Pakistan. However, the sentences were later commuted to life in prison. Neerja Bhanot , head attendant on the flight, was shot dead and posthumously received the highest civil award Tamgha-e-Pakistan from Pakistan as well as India's highest peacetime award for bravery, the Ashok Chakra Award , for her efforts to save passengers' lives. Washington, DC: Federal Bureau of Investigation . United States Department of Justice . The Times of India .

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178660956.

The opening as it stood in 2025 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear

On September 5, 1986, the Boeing 747-121 serving the flight was hijacked while on the ground at Karachi by four armed terrorists of the Abu Nidal Organization . The aircraft, with 360 passengers on board, had just arrived from Bombay. A grand jury later concluded that the militants were planning to use the hijacked airliner to pick up Palestinian prisoners in both Cyprus and Israel. More than twenty passengers were killed during the hijacking, including nationals from India, the United States, Pakistan, and Mexico. All the hijackers were arrested and sentenced to death in Pakistan. However, the sentences were later commuted to life in prison. Senior Purser Neerja Bhanot was shot dead and posthumously received four awards: India's highest peacetime award for bravery, the Ashok Chakra Award , the United States Special Courage award, and two awards from Pakistan, which were Tamgha-e-Pakistan , the fourth highest civil award from Pakistan for her efforts to save passengers' lives, and the Nishan-e-Pakistan . Washington, D.C.: Federal Bureau of Investigation . United States Department of Justice . The Times of India .

Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1296066494. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.

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