A French pilot who's remembered as a hero for his actions in the 1976 hijacking of an Air France plane to Uganda's Entebbe airport has died at the age of 95.

Michel Bacos was awarded the Legion of Honor, France's highest decoration, for refusing to leave the plane's passengers after the plane was hijacked and grounded. Some 110 hostages were held in the airport terminal for nearly a week by seven pro-Palestinian hijackers before Israeli commandos freed them.

Nice mayor Christian Estrosi said in a statement Bacos died on Tuesday in the southern French city.

"By refusing with bravery to quit in the face of anti-Semitism and barbary, he honored France", Estrosi said.

Four hostages were killed along with the terrorists.