American Airlines Flight 444

Last updated

American Airlines Flight 444
8hw - American Airlines Boeing 727-223; N876AA@MIA;24.01.1998 (4752591798).jpg
N876AA, the aircraft involved in the accident, photographed in January 24, 1998.
Occurrence
DateNovember 15, 1979 (1979-11-15)
SummaryBombing
Site Washington Dulles International Airport. Dulles, Virginia
38°57′11″N77°27′00″W / 38.953°N 77.450°W / 38.953; -77.450
Aircraft
Aircraft type Boeing 727-223
Operator American Airlines
Registration N876AA
Flight origin Chicago O'Hare International Airport
Destination Washington National Airport
Occupants78
Passengers72
Crew6
Fatalities0
Injuries12
Survivors78

American Airlines Flight 444 was a scheduled American Airlines flight from Chicago to Washington, D.C.'s National Airport. On November 15, 1979, the Boeing 727 serving the flight was attacked by Ted Kaczynski (also known as the Unabomber), who sent a pipe bomb in the mail and set it to detonate at a certain altitude. The bomb partially detonated in the cargo hold and caused "a sucking explosion and a loss of pressure," which was then followed by large quantities of smoke filling the passenger cabin, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing at Dulles International Airport. [1] [2] [3] Twelve passengers had to be treated afterward for smoke inhalation. [2]

Bombing a commercial airliner, especially one flying through an interstate route as Flight 444 was at the time, and still is, a federal criminal offense. After the incident, the FBI was quickly called in to investigate. The FBI investigators assigned to the case found similarities between the still relatively intact pipe bomb and two bombs that had previously detonated at Northwestern University. This prompted federal authorities to assign the name "Unabomber" (for University and Airline Bomber) to the then-unknown suspect, and sparked one of the longest and most expensive manhunts in FBI history, which ended 17 years later with Kaczynski being arrested and charged in 1996.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dulles International Airport</span> Airport in Dulles, Virginia, United States

Washington Dulles International Airport – commonly known by its former name of Dulles International Airport, by its airport code of IAD, or simply as Dulles Airport – is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located 26 miles (42 km) west of downtown Washington, D.C., in Loudoun and Fairfax counties in Northern Virginia.

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richmond International Airport</span> Airport in Virginia, U.S.

Richmond International Airport is a joint civil-military airport in Sandston, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community. The airport is about 7 miles (11 km) southeast of downtown Richmond, the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Richmond International Airport is the busiest airport in central Virginia and the third-busiest in the state behind Washington Reagan and Washington Dulles. RIC covers 2,500 acres of land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huntsville International Airport</span> Airport in Alabama, US

Huntsville International Airport is a public airport and spaceport ten miles southwest of downtown Huntsville, in Madison County, Alabama, United States. The FAA has designated the Huntsville International Airport as a Re-entry site for the Dream Chaser, a spaceplane operated by Sierra Space to make reentries from Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boeing Field</span> Public airport in Seattle, Washington, United States

King County International Airport, commonly Boeing Field, is a public airport owned and operated by King County, 5 mi (8.0 km) south of downtown Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington. The airport is sometimes referred to as KCIA, but it is not the airport identifier. The airport has scheduled passenger service operated by Kenmore Air, a commuter air carrier, and was being served by JSX with regional jet flights. It is also a hub for UPS Airlines. It is also used by other cargo airlines and general aviation aircraft. The airfield is named for founder of Boeing, William E. Boeing, and was constructed in 1928, serving as the city's primary airport until the opening of Seattle–Tacoma International Airport in 1944. The airport's property is mostly in Seattle just south of Georgetown, with its southern tip extending into Tukwila. The airport covers 634 acres (257 ha), averages more than 180,000 operations annually, and has approximately 380 based aircraft.

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1971 in aviation</span>

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1971.

This is a list of aviation-related events from 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billings Logan International Airport</span> Public airport in Billings, Montana, United States

Billings Logan International Airport is in the western United States, two miles northwest of downtown Billings, in Yellowstone County, Montana. It is the fourth busiest airport in Montana, having been surpassed in recent years by Bozeman, Missoula, and Flathead County (Kalispell) in number of annual enplanements. Owned by the city of Billings, the airport is on top of the Rims, a 500-foot (150 m) cliff overlooking the downtown core, and covers 2,500 acres of land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport</span> Airport in Newport News, Virginia

Newport News-Williamsburg Airport is in Newport News, Virginia, United States, and serves the Hampton Roads area along with Norfolk International Airport in Norfolk. The airport is owned and operated by the Peninsula Airport Commission, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia. PHF covers 1,800 acres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TAESA Lineas Aéreas</span> Low cost airline

TAESA was a low cost airline with its headquarters in No. 27 of Hangar Zone C on the grounds of Mexico City International Airport in Mexico City, Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Kaczynski</span> American domestic terrorist (1942–2023)

Theodore John Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, was an American mathematician and domestic terrorist. He was a mathematics prodigy, but abandoned his academic career in 1969 to pursue a reclusive primitive lifestyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Mueller Municipal Airport</span> Former airport of Austin, Texas, United States (1930–1999)

Robert Mueller Municipal Airport was the first civilian airport built in Austin, Texas, United States. It was located a few miles northeast of downtown Austin. It was replaced as Greater Austin's main airport by the Austin–Bergstrom International Airport, which is located on the site of the former Bergstrom Air Force Base. The airport was named after Robert Mueller, a city commissioner who died in office in January 1927. Robert Mueller Municipal Airport was identified with the airport code AUS, which was reassigned to Austin–Bergstrom International Airport in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1990 Wayne County Airport runway collision</span> Collision of two Northwest Airlines jetliners at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport

On December 3, 1990, two Northwest Airlines jetliners collided at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. Flight 1482, a scheduled Douglas DC-9-14 operating from Detroit to Pittsburgh International Airport, taxied by mistake onto an active runway in dense fog and was hit by a departing Boeing 727 operating as Flight 299 to Memphis International Airport. One member of the crew and seven passengers of the DC-9 were killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Airlines Flight 696</span> Aircraft hijacking

United Airlines Flight 696 was a flight from San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California, to Seattle, Washington, with 75 people in board on March 13, 1978, which was hijacked by a man claiming to have a bomb. The incident resulted in no serious injuries and the arrest of the hijacker, Clay Thomas.

References

  1. ↑ Lynton, Stephen J.; Sager, Mike; Harden, Blaine (November 16, 1979). "Bomb Jolts Jet". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  2. 1 2 O'Brien, John (March 4, 1986). "Federal, State Officials Team Up To Hunt Creator Of 11 Bombs". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  3. ↑ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 727-223 Adv. N876AA Washington-Dulles International Airport, DC (IAD)". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation . Retrieved December 22, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.