American Airlines Flight 444

American Airlines Flight 444
	The American Airlines Boeing 727-223 involved in the incident.
Occurrence
Date	November 15, 1979
Summary	Bombing (attempted)
Site	near Washington Dulles International Airport ; 38°57′11″N77°27′00″W / 38.953°N 77.450°W
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 727-223
Operator	American Airlines
Registration	N876AA
Flight origin	Chicago O'Hare International Airport
Destination	Washington National Airport
Occupants	78
Passengers	72
Crew	6
Fatalities	0
Injuries	12
Survivors	78 (all)

Last updated December 31, 2023

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 "the Unabomber", Ted Kaczynski, 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, is a federal criminal offense, and 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" to the then-unknown suspect and sparked one of the longest and most expensive manhunts in FBI history, which finally ended 17 years later with Ted Kaczynski being arrested and charged in 1996.

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References

↑ Lynton, Stephen J.; Sager, Mike; Harden, Blaine (1979-11-16). "Bomb Jolts Jet". The Washington Post . ISSN 0190-8286 . Retrieved 2015-12-12.
1 2 O'Brien, John (1986-03-04). "Federal, State Officials Team Up To Hunt Creator Of 11 Bombs". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 2015-12-12.
↑ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 727-223 Adv. N876AA Washington-Dulles International Airport, DC (IAD)". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation . Retrieved 2020-12-22.

External links

Non-hull loss description at the Aviation Safety Network

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[washingtonpost-1] Lynton, Stephen J.; Sager, Mike; Harden, Blaine (1979-11-16). "Bomb Jolts Jet". The Washington Post . ISSN 0190-8286 . Retrieved 2015-12-12.

[1986Tribune-2] 1 2 O'Brien, John (1986-03-04). "Federal, State Officials Team Up To Hunt Creator Of 11 Bombs". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved 2015-12-12.

[aviation-safety-3] Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 727-223 Adv. N876AA Washington-Dulles International Airport, DC (IAD)". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation . Retrieved 2020-12-22.

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v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1970s
1970	Cornfield Bomber Eastern Air Lines Shuttle Flight 1320 Trans International Airlines Flight 863 Wichita State University football team plane crash Southern Airways Flight 932 Capitol International Airways Flight C2C3/26
1971	B-52C Lake Michigan crash Colorado Aviation Aero Commander 680 crash Hughes Airwest Flight 706 Allegheny Airlines Flight 485 Pan Am Flight 845 Alaska Airlines Flight 1866 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 (see D. B. Cooper)
1972	Mohawk Airlines Flight 405 Delta Air Lines Flight 9570 American Airlines Flight 96 Prinair Flight 191 Lake Winnebago mid-air collision Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 710 Delta Air Lines Flight 841 Sacramento Canadair Sabre accident Southern Airways Flight 49 United Air Lines Flight 553 Chicago–O'Hare runway collision Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 Puerto Rico DC-7 crash
1973	DeKalb–Peachtree Airport Learjet crash Ozark Air Lines Flight 809 Delta Air Lines Flight 723 TWA Flight 742 World Airways Flight 802 Texas International Airlines Flight 655 Pan Am Flight 160 National Airlines Flight 27 Iberia Flight 933
1974	Commonwealth Commuter Flight 317 Pan Am Flight 806 Delta Air Lines Flight 523 Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 TWA Flight 514 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 6231
1975	Golden West Airlines Flight 261 Eastern Air Lines Flight 66 Wien Air Alaska Flight 99 Overseas National Airways Flight 032
1976	Alaska Airlines Flight 60 American Airlines Flight 625 Air Manila Flight 702 TWA Flight 355
1977	Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1045 Southern Airways Flight 242 Delta Air Lines Flight 1080 Encino helicopter crash Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash Air Indiana Flight 216 United Airlines Flight 2860 Vieques Air Link crash
1978	Continental Airlines Flight 603 United Airlines Flight 696 National Airlines Flight 193 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182 Air Caribbean Flight 309 TWA Flight 541 United Airlines Flight 173
1979	TWA Flight 841 American Airlines Flight 191 Downeast Airlines Flight 46 Air New England Flight 248 American Airlines Flight 293 American Airlines Flight 444
This list is incomplete. ALM Flight 980 ditched in waters near St. Croix. Flying Tiger Line Flight 45 occurred in the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands