1975 — Dec 29, LaGuardia AP Bomb Explosion, TWA baggage area, Brooklyn, NY — 11

— 13 National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac.1983, p. 137.
— 11 Bennington Banner (VT), “Bomb Rips La Guardia, 11 Killed, 75 Injured,” Dec 30, 1975
— 11 Shindler. “Why Hasn’t Washington Explained the 1975 LaGuardia Airport Bombing? 2016.
— 11 Wikipedia, “LaGuardia Airport.”

Narrative Information

Dec 30, UPI: “New York (UPI) – A bomb packing the power of 20 to 25 sticks of dynamite exploded in a TWA baggage area at LaGuardia Airport Monday night, killing 11 persons and injuring about 75 others. Arms, legs, feet and hands of victims were blown across the downstairs luggage terminal. Police said the powerful bomb was placed in a coin-operated locker near the area where passengers collect baggage. Flying glass and steel ripped like shrapnel into scores of holiday travelers and airport workers. A UPI reporter who was waiting for a flight said she saw a ‘human head – just a head – on a window ledge’.” (Bennington Banner, “Bomb…,” 30 Dec 1975)

Dec 30: “The bomb exploded at 5:33 p.m. EST…. The LaGuardia blast blew a 10-to-15-foot hole through the ceiling of the downstairs baggage area. The ceiling was made of six to eight inches of reinforced concrete and steel. People were killed and injured s far as 200 feet from the explosion….

“An anonymous man telephoned UPI in New York, claiming the explosion was set off by the Palestine Liberation Organization. But a PLO spokesman at the United Nations denied any connection with the blast and condemned ‘the dastardly act against the innocent people at LaGuardia’.” (Bennington Banner, “Bomb Rips La Guardia, 11 Killed…,” 30 Dec 1975) “A PLO spokesman said the attack…appeared to be an attempt to embarrass the PLO prior to its participation in the U.N. Security Council Middle East debate nest Jan. 12.” (Bennington Banner (VT), “PLO Denies Involvement,” December 30, 1975, p. 1.)

Dec 30: “The bomb set off a smoky fire in the baggage area shared by Trans World and Delta Airlines, but officials said that flying glass and metal accounted for most of the deaths and injuries. Metal doors were ripped away and glass from 10-foot high windows was found the equivalent of several city blocks from the blast….The airport was quickly evacuated and closed to all traffic shortly after the 6:33 p.m. explosion, forcing the cancellation or diversion of at least 45 flights and fouling the plans of some 5,000 travelers….The disaster also triggered bogus bomb threats at airports in other major cities. Three, including Washington’s National Airport, were evacuated.” (The Daily Times-News (Burlington, NC), “11 Dead in LaGuardia Explosion,” December 30, 1975, p. 1)

Other groups claiming responsibility were a Puerto Rican separatist group, the FALN, and a Mafia gang. (The Daily Times-News (NC), 30 Dec 1975)

Springer: “The FALN…which sought independence for Puerto Rico during the 1970s and early ‘80s, claimed responsibility for dozens of bombings in New York and Chicago.” (Springer 2002)

Queens, NY, Chief of Detectives Edwin T. Dreher, was soon to lead a “task force of 120 NYPD detectives, 600 FBI agents, ATF agents and Port Authority investigators….According to Dreher, the device was controlled by items most of us might have lying around the house — a Westclock alarm clock and an Eveready 6-volt lantern battery…. Almost from the beginning, detectives were assigned to look into the background of each of the dead and injured to see if there was even a remote chance that the bomb was intended for one person alone. An FBI agent was among the injured and a dead Connecticut man was reputed to have CIA ties, Dreher said, but investigators eventually discounted simple murder as a theory. Whoever planted the bomb was making a statement, investigators agreed.” (Springer 2002)

“As the months passed and the LaGuardia bombing task force’s numbers dwindled, investigators were still wondering why no one claimed responsibility for what was obviously a terrorist act. It still remains just a theory, but investigators arrived at a hunch that the bomb may have been intended to go off 12 hours earlier or 12 hours later, exploding at dawn when the baggage claim area presumably would have been empty.” (Springer 2002)

Sources

Bennington Banner, VT. “Bomb Rips La Guardia, 11 Killed and 75 Injured,” 12-30-1975. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?topic=Bomb+rips+La+Guardia%2c+11+killed+and+75+injured&img=48536505&terms=Bomb&dpviewdate=12%2f29%2f2008&firstvisit=true

National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 1983.

Shindler, John R. . “Why Hasn’t Washington Explained the 1975 LaGuardia Airport Bombing? 1-4-2016. Accessed 10-19-2021 at: https://observer.com/2016/01/why-hasnt-washington-explained-the-1975-laguardia-airport-bombing/

Springer, John. “LaGuardia Christmas Bombing Remains Unsolved 27 Years Later.” Court TV, December 24, 2002. Accessed at: http://archives.cnn.com/2002/LAW/12/24/ctv.laguardia/

Wikipedia. “LaGuardia Airport.” Accessed 12-29-2008 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaGuardia_Airport