- Delta Air Lines Flight 841
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Delta Air Lines Flight 841 Hijacking summary Date July 13 – August 2, 1972 Type Hijacking Site Houari Boumediene Airport, Algiers, Algeria Passengers 94 Crew 7 Injuries 0 Fatalities 0 Survivors 101 Aircraft type Douglas DC-8 Operator Delta Air Lines Flight origin Detroit, Michigan, United States Destination Miami International Airport, Florida, United States Contents
Hijacking
Delta Air Lines Flight 841 was an aircraft hijacking that took place beginning on Monday, July 31, 1972, on a flight originally from Detroit to Miami. Members of the Black Liberation Army took over the airplane in flight using weapons smuggled on board, including a bible cut out to hold a handgun. The DC-8 held 7 crew and 94 passengers, none of whom were killed during the hijacking. Five hijackers who had boarded with three children took over the plane. The plane flew to Miami where the 86 hostage-held passengers (i.e. 94 minus 8) were released in exchange for $1 million in ransom. The plane was then flown on to Boston where it refueled before flying to Algeria. Algerian authorities seized the plane and ransom which they returned to the U.S. but the hijackers were released after a few days.[1]
Return of crew and plane
On Wednesday evening, August 2, 1972, at a hurried 10-minute news conference after the four-engine plane's return from the 11,500 mile trip to Atlanta, GA, the captain said he realized the aircraft was being hijacked when he left the cockpit to go to the lavatory and noticed a man holding a gun on a stewardess. One of the hijackers cocked his pistol at a stewardess (Mays, of Macon, GA) while the plane was in Miami. The stewardess had been with the airline less than two months. "They did it as a threat when they thought their instructions were not going to be carried out," the captain said. [2]
The crew had an overnight stay in Barcelona, Spain after leaving Algers. In addition to the ransom, a Delta spokesman said the trip cost $21,600 for fuel and salaries for the crew. It was the first Delta aircraft ordered to fly to Algeria and the first hijacking experience for each of the seven members of the crew. Delta identified the crew members as Capt. William Harold May, First Officer D.L. Henderson, and R.R. Kubal, and stewardesses Shirley Ann Morgan, Sherril Elsie Ross, Hanna Stout Mays, and Leanne Marie Arnfield.[3][4][5]
Apprehension of hijackers
Four of the five hijackers were captured in Paris on May 26, 1976, and tried by the French courts. The remaining hijacker, George Wright, who had dressed as a priest during the hijacking, was caught on September 26, 2011, in Lisbon.[6] Wright was an accomplice in a 1962 armed robbery and homicide, who had escaped prison in New Jersey before joining in the hijacking.[7]
References
- ^ Tina Susman (September 27, 2011). "Fugitive in hijacking case caught after 40-year hunt". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-new-jersey-fugitive-20110928,0,7729854.story.
- ^ "Black Militant Hijackers Tell Jet's Crew Of Plan To Join African Activists". The Robesonian. Aug 3, 1972. http://www.newspaperarchive.com/SiteMap/FreePdfPreview.aspx?img=103861181.
- ^ "Hijackers' Criticism Of America Described". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Aug 3, 1972. http://www.newspaperarchive.com/SiteMap/FreePdfPreview.aspx?img=107374275.
- ^ "Hijackers Fled "Decadent America"". Indiana Evening Gazette. Aug 3, 1972. http://www.newspaperarchive.com/SiteMap/FreePdfPreview.aspx?img=115751502.
- ^ "Hijackers Order Jet to Algeria". The Palm Beach Post. Aug 1, 1972. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=iTxHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zSwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2636,8768&hl=en.
- ^ "On the run for 41 years, hijacker traced to Portugal". CNN. 2011-09-26. http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/27/justice/hijacker-found/. Retrieved 2011-09-26.
- ^ Portugal nabs N.J. killer/hijacker on the run since 1970, Michael Winter, USA Today, September 27, 2011
External links
- Algeria: Panthers on Ice (Time Magazine, Sept. 1972)
- Aviation-Safety.net entry
See also
- Aircraft hijacking
- List of aircraft hijackings
- George Wright (fugitive)
← 1971 · Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972 · 1973 → Jan 12 Braniff Flight 38
Jan 26 JAT Yugoslav Flight 367
Mar 03 Mohawk Airlines Flight 405
Mar 14 Sterling Airways Flight 296
Mar 19 EgyptAir Flight 763
May 05 Alitalia Flight 112
May 08 Sabena Flight 571
May 18 Eastern Air Lines Flight 346
May 30 Delta Air Lines Flight 9570
May 30 Lod Airport massacreJun 12 American Airlines Flight 96
Jun 14 Japan Airlines Flight 471
Jun 15 Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z
Jun 18 British European Airways Flight 548
Jun 24 Prinair Flight 191
Jun 29 1972 Lake Winnebago mid-air collision
Jul 05 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708
Jul 31 Delta Air Lines Flight 841
Aug 14 Königs Wusterhausen disaster
Aug 16 Burma Airways Thandwe crash
Sep 24 Japan Airlines Flight 472Oct 13 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
Nov 10 Southern Airways Flight 49
Nov 15 Ansett Airlines Flight 232
Nov 28 Philippine Airlines Flight 463
Nov 28 Japan Airlines Flight 446
Dec 08 United Airlines Flight 553
Dec 23 Braathens Flight 239
Dec 29 Eastern Air Lines Flight 401Incidents resulting in at least 50 deaths shown in italics. Deadliest incident shown in bold smallcaps. Categories:- Airliner hijackings
- Black Liberation Army
- Aviation stubs
- Crime stubs
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