Video: 'Ed Longo LGA.mpg'

(Monday, December 29, 1975, 6:33 p.m. EST) — A powerful bomb ripped through a baggage-claim area at LaGuardia Airport tonight, killing 11 people and injuring 74 others in one of the deadliest unsolved attacks in New York City history.

The explosion, which detonated near the TWA baggage reclaim terminal, hurled shrapnel across the crowded area and left rescuers picking through mangled metal, shattered glass and scattered luggage in a scene witnesses described as “instant chaos.”

Video: 'Radio Program Interrupted with Report on Dec. 29, 1975 LaGuardia Airport Bomb'

Authorities said no group has claimed responsibility.

Investigators have focused on several possible motives, including anti-Yugoslav nationalist groups or even the Yugoslav government itself, which some officials theorized might have staged the attack to undermine its opposition. Federal officials emphasized that the inquiry remains open.

Video: 'LaGuardia Airport Bombing Anniversary'

The bombing struck during a tense period of political violence in the United States. The year 1975 saw a surge in domestic bombings in New York and Washington, along with two attempted assassinations of President Gerald Ford.

Before Monday’s attack, the nation had not seen such a deadly assault by a non-state actor since the 1927 Bath School bombing, which killed 45 people, including the perpetrator. In New York City, it was the worst act of violence since the 1920 Wall Street bombing, which left 38 dead — a grim distinction the city would not see surpassed again until the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

No arrests have ever been made in the LaGuardia bombing, and the case remains unsolved.