Famous Hijackings
The majority of famous hijackings have been politically motivated, although the profit motive has been behind some seizures. Many take-overs have involved airplanes, enabled by lax security systems prior to the events of September 11, 2001. Groups have hijacked other forms of transportation as well, including boats and trains.
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Longest Hijacking
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In 1968, Palestinian forces seized an El Al flight from Rome and diverted it to Algiers. For 40 days, 22 hostages were held by Algerian authorities. The passengers were finally released after an international boycott by pilots.
D.B. Cooper
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On November 24, 1971, a man known as D.B. Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727. He received $200,000 in ransom and parachuted out the rear of the plane over Washington state. Cooper was never captured.
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Train Hijacking
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Near the village of De Punt in Netherlands, nine Moluccan hijackers seized a train and 50 hostages on May 23, 1977. Over the course of 20 days, two hostages and six hijackers were killed.
Achille Lauro
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On October 7, 1985, the Palestinian Liberation Front hijacked an ocean liner off the coast of Egypt. The hijackers murdered a wheelchair-bound passenger before being transferred to a plane. The plane was then seized by Italian authorities.
9/11
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On September 11, 2001, 19 hijackers took control of four passenger planes in the American northeast. Two planes were crashed into the World Trade Center towers, one crashed into the Pentagon and one, on which passengers mounted a counterattack, crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Achille Lauro; DR Walker; GNU Free Documentation License
