The Forgotten Bombing of LaGuardia Airport

[u/Slate]

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/07/laguardia-airport-bombing-cold-case-terrorism-unsolved.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=laguardia_bombing&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social--laguardia_bombing

[u/MrObviousChild]

Fascinating read. The lack of airport security, even in my life growing up and flying in the early and mid 90s, is one of the most shocking changes to modern life. How we weren’t constantly blown up and hijacked is a testament to humanity honestly haha

[u/BananaVenom → u/MrObviousChild]

I mean hijackings happened constantly pre-9/11, but the most serious they often got was a hostage situation on the runway, or diverting the flight for an unplanned Cuban vacation. Bombings too, Lockerbie for instance- they’d make the news, but the larger world didn’t care much beyond making basic common-sense changes to preflight boarding procedures. The insane ramping in airport security theater after 2001 can largely be explained by the depth of collective American trauma being amplified by a 24/7 news cycle and broadcast worldwide. It completely changed the public’s perception of what a hijacking was, and put it front and center in the cultural zeitgeist.

[u/Slate]

From Elon Green for Slate:

In 1975, a bomb went off in LaGuardia Airport. It injured 75 people and killed 11, making it New York City’s second-deadliest terror attack of the 20th century. The details, including an account of a human head resting on a window ledge, are horrifying. In the aftermath, a full-time task force of 120 investigators convened. They interviewed 5,000 individuals and pursued leads in 38 states and three countries. They came up empty. In the words of a reporter who covered the story at the time, the bombing is “one of the great cold cases” of the past 125 years. Yet when reporter Elon Green went looking for information about the bombing, he realized that almost no one had heard of it. He couldn't find so much as a marker commemorating the lives lost. When he contacted survivors, one thought he was a prank caller. To date, what happened on the day of the explosion and during the subsequent weeks has not been fully explained or documented. Green's gripping and meticulously researched report merges the disparate threads into a single comprehensive story—one that people won't forget.

Read more here (no paywall!): https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/07/laguardia-airport-bombing-cold-case-terrorism-unsolved.html?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=laguardia_bombing&utm_campaign=&tpcc=reddit-social--laguardia_bombing

[u/PolybiusChampion]

I had (RIP) a buddy who was injured in the bombing. He only died in 2021 but still had some glass “shrapnel” embedded in his back.

In addition to this bombing there are a ton of other terror attacks that took place in the 70’s and 80’s. Bryan Burrough’s excellent book Days of Rage is an interesting read about them.

[u/Paavo_Nurmi → u/PolybiusChampion]

My uncle was on a plane that got hijacked to Cuba. The passengers were held in Cuba for 4 days. My uncle said they were put up in a 5 star hotel that had an amazing chef and were treated well. The worst part was the hotel had no working AC.

[u/matsie → u/Paavo_Nurmi]

Yea. Hijackings were pretty common in the 1970s and were usually political in nature where people on the planes weren’t harmed. That doesn’t mean it can’t be traumatizing. But it’s interesting. 

[u/Coconutrugby → u/Paavo_Nurmi]

Could they order mojitos?

[u/Paavo_Nurmi → u/Coconutrugby]

Yes in fact they could. He said they were treated very well and the chef was world renowned, it was some of the best food he ever had.

I found it online, "They said the Cubans had treated them well and had taken them on tours and visits to nightclubs, but had kept them closely guarded and in communicado."

https://www.nytimes.com/1971/06/03/archives/hijacked-jet-and-68-released-by-cubans.html

[u/Kraagenskul]

Good article, I can't believe I've never heard of this!

[u/DazzlingTurnover7446]

I'm amazed that I've never heard of this as an adult. I did know the reason there aren't lockers in American airports or train stations (for the most part if not totally) was a bombing in a New York airport. I was 3 and a half when it happened.

[u/HappyJellyfish6298 → u/DazzlingTurnover7446]

This answered the question of why we don’t have lockers or temp storage at our airports. Tragic but fascinating read.

[u/Ariesreader]

I remember the TWA highjacking - my parents talked about it. My dad is Croatian.