Delta Airlines flight 841 on July 31st 1972 Delta Airlines flight 841 and wrote from Detroit to Miami became the scene of a brutal hijacking set in motion by members of the Black Liberation Army the three hijackers along with three women and two children smuggling weapons on board including a gun hidden inside a hollowed out Bible codered the Doug dc8 with 101 people on board including 94 passengers and seven crew members despite the frightening situation the hijackers ensured no fatalities occurred after reaching Miami an approximate sum of $1 million as extortion money placed in a blue
suitcase was dragged inside the airplane with a rope and 86 passenger hostages were released but the plane then diverted to Boston there the jet was refueled a flight engineer boarded and Provisions such as cigarettes and sandwiches were loaded onto the aircraft the plane then headed to alers where the Algerian government seized both the plane and the ransom before returning the crew and aircraft to the US however the hijackers were released after a few days following International efforts four hijackers were captured in France in 1976 serving brief prison terms before settling in France the fifth hijacker
George Wright remained On The Run until his capture in Portugal in 2011 where he avoided extradition to to the US due to his Portuguese citizenship thus making this event one of the most complex hijackings of History tww flight 847 in June 1985 tww flight 847 took off from Cairo with 139 passengers on board this InterContinental flight was scheduled for multiple layovers at Athens Rome Boston and Los Angeles but its Journey was cut short on June 14th 1985 when the plane took to the SK from the runway of Athens Greece during this layover two Arab speaking
Lebanese men smuggled 9mm guns and grenades on the flight a short while after the plane took off it was hijacked by The Men Who demanded all passengers with Jew sounding names to identify themselves however the motive behind this incident was something else a release of all Lebanese Shas including those involved in the 1983 bombings of the US Embassy the hijackers held the captain test trke at gunpoint and forcefully diverted the plane to bayout International Airport where 19 passengers were allowed to leave in exchange for fuel throughout the flight passengers and crew were tied and beaten
repeatedly still at this specific stop they cornered US Navy driver Robert steam shot him right in the temple and threw his body at the bayout tarmac before firing again around a dozen arm men boarded the plane and then it took off to alers on June 15th where a further 65 passengers and female crew were let go by June 17th the remaining 40 passengers were taken hostage by Hezbollah at different locations throughout Beirut they remained there until June 30th when US President Ronald Reagan finally intervened and held diplomatic negotiations with a few Lebanese officials the hostages
were finally sent back to the us where the US president welcomed them over the next few weeks Israel released the 700 hostages although the country kept denying its relevance to the hijacking American Airlines flight 119 on June 23rd 1972 American Airlines flight 119 a Boeing 727 was hijacked shortly after departing St Louis for Tulsa the hijacker 28-year-old Robert Wilson boarded the flight with a briefcase containing a modified Spitfire machine gun a small caliber pistol a smoke grenade and a wig he purchased a $70 roundtrip ticket passing through security without any checks after takeoff Wilson initially
appeared harmless even engaging in conversation with a fellow passenger as the plane approached Tulsa he made the Fateful decision to execute his plan he went to the laboratory wore the wig and gloves and armed himself before confronting the crew emerging from the restroom Wilson brandished his weapon and demanded the flight crew comply with his instructions his motivation was basically based on his financial crisis having invested $1,500 into the hijacking scheme at first he demanded the pilots to divert the plane back to St Louis but shortly changed his mind and asked to fly to Dallas before
changing his mind back to landing at St Louis he then placed his demands for the authorities on the ground which were quite similar to DB Cooper Wilson asked for half a million dollars in cash five parachutes along with the manuals on how to use them after landing in St Louis he released 91 of the 92 passengers and allowed two official on board the flight attendants surprised yet compliant worked to diffuse the situation the hijacker transferred to another plane taking Pilots crew and one passenger hostage and demanded to be flown to Toronto and then New York
at 2:50 a.m. Somewhere Over Indiana the hijacker who went by Robert Wilson parachuted out of the plane at 8,000 ft in the jump he lost his money and machine gun both later discovered by Farmers authorities identified the hijacker as Martin J MCN a former Navy sailor who was eventually captured and sentenced to two life terms PanAm flight 73 PanAm flight 73 Bound for New York from Bombay with scheduled stops in Karachi and Frankfurt became the target of a terrible hijacking on September 5th 1986 the Boeing 747 carrying 360 passengers and 19 crew had just arrived
in Karachi when four armed members of the Abu Nadal organization ation disguised as airport security storm the aircraft armed with rifles grenades and explosive belts they gain control terrifying passengers and crew the hijackers forced the first and business-class passengers to the back Gathering passports to identify Americans one of the flight attendants courageously hid some American passports to protect passengers from being singled out the hijackers demanded that the cockpit crew which had shortly escaped return to the plane upon realizing that the plane could not be Al without them lead hijacker safarini shot American passenger as a
show of force the hostage lasted for several hours yet seeing that their message was not getting across the hijackers opened fire filling the cabin with bullets and grenades Panic shot through the passengers yet some managed to escape through the emergency exits the aftermath saw 21 fatalities and 120 injuries though most on board survived the hijackers were later arrested and sentenced in Pakistan with safarini receiving additional sentencing in the United States FedEx Flight 705 on April 7th 1994 FedEx Flight 705 a McDonald Douglas DC 1030 freighter faced a terrifying hijacking attempt mid-flight Auburn R Callaway a
FedEx flight engineer flying as a deadhead passenger attempted to take control of the plane with a violent plan to crash it for a life insurance payout of $2.5 million for his family armed with a spear gun and multiple hammers hidden in a guitar case Callaway attacked three crew members Captain David Sanders first Officer James Tucker and flight engineer Andrew Peterson at 19,000 ft despite severe injuries the crew fought back with Tucker using sharp moves like steep climbs and Dives to disorient Callaway at one point Peterson wrestled the spear gun from Callaway while Tucker regained some
control over the aircraft eventually the crew managed to control him bringing the damage plane back to Memphis and International Airport 16,000 kg over its maximum Landing weight for their bravery the crew survived but sustained serious injuries and Callaway received two life sentences the aircraft remarkably remained in service with FedEx for nearly 30 years only being placed in storage in 2023 Air France flight 8969 on December 24th 1994 Air France flight 8969 was hijacked by four armed Islamic group terrorists at alger's airport disguised as Algerian presidential police the hijackers initially stayed calm and started checking the
passports of the 220 passengers of the Airbus a300 with 12 crew members but soon revealed themselves as mujahedin wanting to establish an Islamic State in France the plane was soon surrounded by the Algerian military and the counterterrorism forces negotiations continued and the hijackers demanded the release of two Algerian political group FIS leaders leaders but later shifted their demand to flying over to Paris for a press conference where they intended to detonate the plane despite intense negotiations and standoffs the Algerian government refused to meet the hijackers demands in a move to show their Force the hijackers
shot one Algerian police and Vietnamese Diplomat on board on December 26th the plane was allowed to depart to Marseilles where French counterterrorism unit took action the unit stormed the plane successfully killing all four hijackers and rescuing the hostages however 25 people including passenger crew members and special units Personnel were injured during the operation the incident LED Air France to suspend its Algeria flights for nearly a decade until 2004 Southern Airways flight 49 the 1972 hijacking of Southern Airways flight 49 was a high stakes event spanning over 30 hours and covering 4,000 Mi across three countries
it began after takeoff from Birmingham Alabama when three armed men Melvin kale Lewis Moore and Henry D Jackson Jr brandished handguns and grenades taking control of the dc9 with 35 people aboard facing criminal charges themselves the hijackers demanded a ransom of $10 million and threatened to crash the plane into the Oak Ridge Nuclear research reactor unless the ransom was met this was one of the most severe threats in the US aviation history and thus the FBI scrambled to negotiate and could only gather around $2 million far short of the demand the plane hopscotched across the
US and Canada Landing in cities like Cleveland Detroit and Toronto as demands evolved at One Stop FBI agents tried to disable the plane by shooting out two of its tires but the hijackers retaliated by shooting the co-pilot forcing the flight to continue eventually they reached Havana Cuba where they hoped for Sanctuary however Fidel Castro refused to Harbor them after a standoff Cuban authorities captured the hijackers who later served prison sentences in both Cuba and the US the ordeal prompted the US to Institute mandatory physical screenings for airline passengers in January 1973 marking a turning point
in Aviation Security Eastern Airlines flight 1320 on March 17th 1970 Eastern Airlines shuttle flight 1320 operating a McDonald Douglas DC 931 was hijacked while flying from nework to Boston the hijacker John J devivo armed with a 38 caliber revolver ordered Captain Robert Wilbur Jr to fly East and to notify him when the plane was low on fuel during the hijacking devivo shot Captain Wilbur in the arm severely wounding him co-pilot James Harley also sustained gunshot wounds but managed to wrestle the gun from devivo shooting him three times before collapsing and later dying from his injuries
Captain Wilbur communicated with Boston air traffic control alerting them that both he and Harley had been shot and needed immediate assistance upon Landing in a remarkable display of skill despite his severe gunshot wounds he successfully landed the aircraft with 68 passengers and five crew members on board the flight landed safely at Logan International Airport where Emergency Services were waiting devivo was arrested at the scene but committed suicide awaiting trial this incident was the first aircraft hijacking in US history to result in a death significantly impacting future Aviation security protocols Air France flight 139 on June
27th 1976 Air France flight 139 and route from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked shortly after takeoff the aircraft carrying 248 passengers and crew was commandeered by members of the popular front for the liberation of Palestine external operations and the German revolutionary cells armed with hand grenades and automatic weapons the hijackers forced the flight to land in in Athens where they took on additional hijackers before redirecting the plane to entab Uganda once on the ground the hijackers moved the passengers to a cramped old terminal and demanded an immediate release of 40 Palestinians held in Israel
and 13 others detained in Kenya and France during this tense situation one of the female passengers faked a miscarriage to gain the hijacker sympathy and secure her Freedom with the passing days the situation became dire as the hijackers threatened to execute the passengers if their demands were not met faced with this urgency the Israeli government began planning a rescue operation on July 4th Israeli Commandos launched a raid storming the terminal where the passengers were held killing all but three of the hijackers and securely rescuing 102 passengers
