Egyptian raid on Larnaca International Airport On 19 February 1978 , Egyptian forces raided Larnaca International Airport near Larnaca , Cyprus in an attempt to intervene in a hijacking situation . Earlier , two assassins had killed prominent Egypt ian newspaper editor Youssef Sebai and then rounded up several Arabs who were attending a convention in Nicosia as hostages . As Cypriot forces were trying to negotiate with the hostage - takers at the airport , Egyptian troops decided to launch their own assault without authorization from the Cypriots . The unauthorized raid led to the Egyptians and the Cypriots exchanging gunfire , killing or injuring more than 20 of the Egyptian commandos . As a result , Egypt and Cyprus severed political ties for several years after the incident . Hijacking . In the late hours of 18 February 1978 , Youssef Sebai , editor of a prominent Egypt ian newspaper and a friend of the Egyptian President , Anwar Sadat , was assassinated by two gunmen at a convention being held at the Nicosia Hilton . The two assassins rounded up 16 Arab convention delegates as hostages ( among them , two P . L . O . representatives and one Egyptian national ) and demanded transportation to Larnaca International Airport . They also demanded and were supplied with a Cyprus Airways DC - 8 aircraft ( c / n 45303 / 141 N99862 ) . Following negotiations with the Cypriot authorities , the hijackers were allowed to fly the aircraft out of Cyprus with 11 hostages and four crew members . The aircraft , however , was denied permission to land in Djibouti , Syria and Saudi Arabia and was forced to return and land in Cyprus a few hours later . According to a report in " Time magazine " magazine , the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat , was aggrieved by the assassination of his personal friend and begged the Cypriot President , Spyros Kyprianou to rescue the hostages and extradite the terrorists to Cairo . The Cypriot President responded by promising to oversee the rescue operation and any negotiations personally , and travelled to the airport himself . According to the same report however , Sadat dispatched an elite antiterrorism unit ( Task Force 777 ) to Cyprus aboard a C - 130 Hercules transport aircraft . Cairo merely informed Kyprianou that " " people are on the way to help rescue the hostages " " and did not reveal who was on board nor what their intentions were . Upon landing in Cyprus , the Egyptian force immediately launched an all out assault , dispatching a single Jeep all - terrain vehicle with three men to race ahead of an estimated 58 troops ( another report has this figure at 74 ) moving towards the hijacked aircraft on foot . Egyptian raid . As the Egypt ian troops advanced quickly towards the hijacked DC - 8 aircraft and the Cypriot National Guard forces who surrounded it , the Cypriot forces reportedly issued a single verbal warning to halt and submit , though in other reports , the Cypriots issued two verbal warnings , the second a demand for the Egyptians to return to their aircraft . As this occurred , the occupants of the Jeep and the Cypriot National Guardsmen exchanged gunfire , and the Egyptian Jeep was struck by a rocket propelled grenade ( RPG ) , as well as gunfire , killing all three occupants . As the vehicle came to a halt , the Cypriots and the main Egyptian force confronted each other at a range of less than , and it is variously reported that the Egyptians , who lacked any form of cover , dropped down onto the tarmac in prone firing positions . At this moment , the two forces engaged each other with heavy gunfire , and the Cypriots opened fire on the Egyptian C - 130H aircraft with a 106 mm anti - tank missile , striking it in the nose and killing all three crew on board . With their aircraft destroyed , the Egyptian force and the Cypriot National Guard exchanged heavy gunfire for nearly an hour in sporadic fighting on the open tarmac . Some of the Egyptian troops took cover in a nearby empty Air France aircraft . Cypriot President Spyros Kyprianou , who was watching the events unfolding from the airport control tower , was forced to withdraw from the windows and take cover as Egyptian commandos struck the tower with automatic gunfire . Aftermath . Of the Egyptian commando force , 15 men were killed , in addition to three crew of the C - 130H Hercules transport aircraft who were killed when it was struck by a missile . An estimated 15 more Egyptian commandos were reported to have been taken injured to Larnaca General Hospital with gunshot wounds . Following the assault , it emerged that the surrender of the two hostage - takers had already been secured at the time of the failed Egyptian attack , and the two men were taken prisoner by the Cypriots and later extradited to Egypt , where they received death sentences , later commuted to life sentences . On 20 February , Egypt recalled its diplomatic mission and requested the Cyprus government to do the same in Cairo . Cyprus requested the withdrawal of Egypt ' s military attaché . Egypt and Cyprus severed political ties for several years after the incident , until President Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981 . President Kyprianou offered reconciliation and apologies but maintained that Cyprus could not have allowed the Egyptians to act . Other Arab countries such as Syria and Libya denounced Egypt ' s action . In popular culture . The raid was parodied in the 25 February 1978 episode of " Saturday Night Live " .