Pan Am Flight 281

Last updated
Pam Am Flight 281
Boeing 707-321B N421PA Pan American World Airways (Pan Am).jpg
A Pan Am Boeing 707 similar to the hijacked aircraft
Hijack
DateNovember 24, 1968
Summary Aircraft hijacking
SiteUSA and Cuba
Aircraft
Aircraft type Boeing 707 [1]
Operator Pan Am
Flight originJFK International Airport, NY, USA
StopoverHavana, Cuba
DestinationSan Juan, Puerto Rico
Passengers205
Crew3
Fatalities0
Injuries0
Missing0
Survivors208

Pan Am Flight 281 was a regularly scheduled Pan American World Airways flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was hijacked on November 24, 1968, by four men from JFK International Airport, New York City to Havana, Cuba. [2] [3] U.S. jet fighter aircraft followed the plane until it reached Cuban airspace. [4]

Two of the hijackers were apprehended in the 1970s. Jose Rafael Rios Cruz was arrested in 1975; Miguel Castro was captured in 1976. Both pleaded guilty; Cruz was sentenced to 15 years in prison and Castro to 12.

A third hijacker, Luis Armando Peña Soltren, lived as a fugitive in Cuba. In October 2009, he voluntarily returned to the United States and surrendered to federal authorities. He pleaded guilty to the hijacking on March 18, 2010. [5] On January 4, 2011 he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, without the possibility of parole. [6]

Alejandro Figueroa, a woman charged as a co-conspirator in the case, was acquitted in 1969.

Related Research Articles

The Japanese Red Army was a militant communist organization active from 1971 to 2001. It was designated a terrorist organization by Japan and the United States. The JRA was founded by Fusako Shigenobu and Tsuyoshi Okudaira in February 1971, and was most active in the 1970s and 1980s, operating mostly out of Lebanon with PFLP collaboration and funding from Muammar Gaddafi's Libya, as well as Syria and North Korea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Reid</span> British terrorist jailed in a US federal prison

Richard Colvin Reid, also known as the Shoe Bomber, is the perpetrator of the failed shoe bombing attempt on a transatlantic flight in 2001. Born to a father who was a career criminal, Reid converted to Islam as a young man in prison after years as a petty criminal. Later he became radicalized and went to Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he trained and became a member of al-Qaeda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José Miguel Battle Sr.</span> American mobster

Jose Miguel Battle Sr. was a policeman and Cuban exile who served in the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs Invasion to overthrow the communist Cuban regime in 1961. He later became the nominal leader and founder of The Corporation, also known as the Cuban Mafia, and he invested in the gambling industry in the United States and Peru. He was eventually convicted of racketeering and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Operation Backfire is a multi-agency criminal investigation, led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), into destructive acts in the name of animal rights and environmental causes in the United States described as eco-terrorism by the FBI. The operation resulted in convictions and imprisonment of a number of people, many of whom were members of the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zacarias Moussaoui</span> French Al-Qaeda member imprisoned in the US

Zacarias Moussaoui is a French member of al-Qaeda who pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to conspiring to kill citizens of the United States as part of the 9/11 attacks. He is serving life imprisonment without the possibility of parole at the Federal ADX Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. Moussaoui is the only person ever convicted in U.S. court in connection with the 11 September attacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Penitentiary, Allenwood</span> Federal prison in Pennsylvania

The United States Penitentiary, Allenwood is a maximum security United States federal prison in Pennsylvania. It is part of the Allenwood Federal Correctional Complex and is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Correctional Institution, Edgefield</span> Medium-security United States prison in South Carolina

The Federal Correctional Institution, Edgefield is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates in South Carolina. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility also has an adjacent satellite prison camp for minimum-security male offenders, which houses between 500 and 549 inmates.

Joseph "Jo Jo" Corozzo, Sr. is a New York mobster who was the reputed consigliere of the Gambino crime family.

Abduwali Abdulkadir Museعبدالولي موسى is a Somali convicted pirate. He is the sole survivor of four pirates who hijacked the MV Maersk Alabama in April 2009 and then held Captain Richard Phillips for ransom. On 16 February 2011, Muse was sentenced to 33 years and 9 months in U.S. federal prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kendall Myers</span> American spy (born 1937)

Walter Kendall Myers is a former U.S. State Department employee who, with his wife, Gwendolyn, was arrested and indicted on June 4, 2009, on charges of spying for Cuba for nearly 30 years. He was convicted of espionage and sentenced to life imprisonment by a U.S. federal court in July 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 hijacking</span>

LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 hijacking was the hijacking of a LOT Polish Airlines that occurred on 30 August 1978. The hijackers from East Germany (GDR) were seeking political asylum in West Germany (FRG). The plane landed safely, and the primary hijacker was tried and convicted by a West German jury in the specially convened United States Court for Berlin and sentenced to time served, the nine months he had already served during pretrial detention.

Operation Bid Rig was a long-term investigation into political corruption in New Jersey conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2002 to 2014.

Michael C. Finton, also known as Talib Islam, is an American convert to Islam and a part-time cook who attempted to bomb the Paul Findley Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in downtown Springfield, Illinois, on 24 September 2009. He pleaded guilty in federal court on 9 May 2011 and was sentenced to 28 years in prison.

Colton Harris Moore is an American former fugitive. He was charged with the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in property, including several small aircraft, boats, and multiple cars, all committed while still a teenager.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Security incidents involving Barack Obama</span> Assassination attempts and threats against the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama

Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, was involved in multiple security incidents, including several assassination threats and plots, starting from when he became a presidential candidate in 2007. Secret Service protection for Obama began after he received a death threat in 2007, while serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois and running for president. This marked the earliest time a candidate received such protection before being nominated. Security was increased early for Obama due to fears of possible assassination attempts by white supremacist or other racist groups or individuals against the first African American major party presidential nominee.

The SY Quest incident occurred in February 2011 when Somali pirates seized the American yacht SY Quest and four United States citizens. The United States Navy ordered the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and three other ships to free the hostages. All four hostages were shot by their captors.

Richard Frederick Dixon is an American criminal principally known for hijacking Eastern Airlines Flight 953 from Detroit to Cuba in October 1971 and for the second-degree murder of South Haven police officer, Michael McAllister, in January 1976. He was convicted on these charges after his capture in 1976. He was sentenced in Michigan state court to life in prison on the murder charge and in federal court to an additional 40 years on federal charges of air piracy and kidnapping.

References

  1. "15-Year Sentence for 1968 Hijacking". The New York Times. 2011. Retrieved 2013-03-31.
  2. "Suspect in 1968 hijacking at JFK is captured". CNN.com. 2009-10-12. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  3. "Man arrested in '68 hijacking of flight from NY". The Associated Press. 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  4. "With arrest, memories of hijacking ordeal flood back". The Associated Press. 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  5. "Hijacker of Pan American Flight 281 Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court". FBI. 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-03-22. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
  6. "US man given 15 years for 1968 Cuba hijack". BBC News. 2011-01-04.