Book cover for Flight 149: A Hostage Crisis, a Secret Special Forces Unit, and the Origins of the Gulf War by Stephen Davis

Flight 149

A Hostage Crisis, a Secret Special Forces Unit, and the Origins of the Gulf War

2021 Released
288 Pages
5-6 Hours
Audiobook Unavailable
Paperback Unavailable
Hardback Unavailable
PublicAffairsISBN 9781541700048

An “un-putdownable read” (Stephen Grey, author of Ghost Plane) that reveals the true story of a plane of unsuspecting passengers who landed in a war zone and were delivered to a murderous dictator
 
On August 1, 1990, Flight 149 was scheduled for its routine London-to-Kuala Lumpur run. But when the plane, carrying 385 passengers and crew, landed at a Kuwait airport to refuel that day, it was surrounded by Iraqi tanks and about to be bombed by fighter jets.
 
The passengers and crew were kept as hostages and suffered brutal treatment including violent attacks, sexual assaults, and mock executions. When the survivors were eventually released, they were never told why their plane landed in the middle of an invasion, or who a mysterious team of late arrivals on the flight might have been. Their story was overshadowed by the ensuing Gulf War. Until now.
 
In Flight 149, Stephen Davis draws on unique witness accounts from the hostages, and uncovers the lies and coverups orchestrated by the British secret service and CIA. This story reveals an astonishing misuse of intelligence that changed the course of history and forever altered the relationship between the West and the Middle East.

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