Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. Dating from the earliest of hijackings, most cases involve the pilot being forced to fly according to the hijacker's demands. There have also been incidents where the hijackers have overpowered the flight crew, made unauthorized entry into the cockpit and flown them into buildings—most notably in the September 11 attacks—and in some cases, planes have been hijacked by the official pilot or co-pilot, such as with Ethiopian Airlines Flight 702.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1980.
Air France Flight 8969 was an Air France flight that was hijacked on 24 December 1994 by the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria (GIA) at Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers. The militants murdered three passengers and their intention was either to detonate the aircraft over the Eiffel Tower or the Tour Montparnasse in Paris. When the aircraft reached Marseille, the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN), a tier one counterterrorism and hostage rescue unit of the French National Gendarmerie, stormed the plane and killed all four hijackers.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1972.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1971.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1974. 1974 had been deemed as "the single worst year in airline history" although this has since been surpassed.
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1975.
Samuel Joseph Byck was an American hijacker and attempted assassin. On February 22, 1974, he attempted to hijack a plane flying out of Baltimore/Washington International Airport, intending to crash into the White House in the hopes of killing President Richard Nixon. During the incident, Byck killed a policeman and a pilot, but was shot and wounded by another policeman before committing suicide.
In September 1970, members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked four airliners bound for New York City and one for London. Three aircraft were forced to land at Dawson's Field, a remote desert airstrip near Zarqa, Jordan, formerly Royal Air Force Station Zarqa, which then became PFLP's "Revolutionary Airport". By the end of the incident, one hijacker had been killed and one injury reported. This was the second instance of mass aircraft hijacking, after an escape from communist Czechoslovakia in 1950.
Skyjacked is a 1972 American disaster film starring Charlton Heston and Yvette Mimieux. Directed by John Guillermin, the film is based on the David Harper novel Hijacked. James Brolin led an ensemble cast primarily playing the roles of passengers and crew aboard an airliner.
Purple Storm is a 1999 Hong Kong action thriller film directed by Teddy Chan, and narrated by Daniel Wu, who also starred in the lead role. The film co-stars Kam Kwok-leung, Emil Chau, Josie Ho, and Joan Chen. The film was released theatrically in Hong Kong on 25 November 1999. The American version was released by Touchstone Pictures and Millennium Films.
2000 AD is a 2000 Hong Kong action thriller film directed by Gordon Chan, who also wrote the screenplay with Stu Zicherman. The film stars Aaron Kwok, Phyllis Quek, James Lye and Daniel Wu. The film was shot on location in both Hong Kong and Singapore. The film was released theatrically in Hong Kong on 3 February 2000. It was timed to screen during the peak Chinese New Year period.
Unknown is a 2011 action-thriller film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz, and Frank Langella. The film, produced by Joel Silver, Leonard Goldberg and Andrew Rona, is based on the 2003 French novel by Didier Van Cauwelaert published in English as Out of My Head which was adapted as the film's screenplay by Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell. The narrative centers around a professor who wakes up from a four-day long coma and sets out to prove his identity after no one recognizes him, including his own wife, and another man claims to be him.
The Trap Snaps Shut at Midnight is a 1966 West German thriller film directed by Harald Philipp and starring George Nader, Horst Frank and Heinz Weiss. It was the fourth film in the Jerry Cotton series.
Finnair Flight 405 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight between Oulu and Helsinki, Finland, that was hijacked on 30 September 1978. The Finnair operated Sud Aviation Caravelle with 44 passengers and 5 crew aboard was hijacked by an unemployed home building contractor. After forcing the pilot to fly to Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Helsinki, the hijacker received his ransom demands and released his hostages. He was arrested at his home the following day.
Delta Air Lines Flight 841 was an aircraft hijacking that took place beginning on July 31, 1972, on a flight originally from Detroit to Miami.
Non-Stop is a 2014 mystery action thriller film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, co-produced by Joel Silver, and starring Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore. It follows an alcoholic ex-NYPD officer turned Federal Air Marshal who must find the killer on an international flight from New York to London after receiving texts saying someone on board will die every 20 minutes until financial demands are met. The film marks the second collaboration between Collet-Serra and Neeson after Unknown (2011).
The 1971 Qantas bomb hoax was an extortion and robbery committed by Peter Macari and Raymond Poynting on 26 May 1971, where Macari, under the alias of "Mr. Brown", extorted $500,000 from Qantas by informing officials that he had hidden a bomb onboard Qantas Flight 755 from Sydney to Hong Kong, and that the device would explode if the plane were to descend below 20,000 feet. In exchange for the safety of the 128 passengers and crew on board Flight 755, Macari demanded a ransom of $500,000. While authorities negotiated with Macari, Flight 755 was forced to circle Sydney; however after over six hours in the air and with fuel supplies dwindling, Qantas was forced to concede. At around 5:45 p.m., in Chifley Square, just outside Qantas company headquarters, Captain RJ Ritchie, a Qantas general manager, handed Macari the ransom money through the window of a Volkswagen Kombi. Sometime after 6:00 pm, Qantas received a final call from Macari stating that there was no bomb onboard Flight 755. The plane was able to land safely at Sydney Airport around 6:45 p.m.
The apparent success and instant notoriety of the hijacker known as D. B. Cooper in November 1971 resulted in over a dozen copycat hijackings within the next year all using a similar template to that established by Cooper. Like Cooper, the plan would be to hijack an aircraft, demand a ransom, and then parachute from that aircraft as a method of escape. To combat this wave of extortion hijackings, aircraft were fitted with eponymous "Cooper Vanes", specifically designed to prevent the aft staircase from being lowered in-flight. The Cooper Vane, as well as the widespread implementation of other safety measures such as the installation of metal detectors throughout American airports, would spell the end of the Cooper copycats.
