1 wiss Air Force Off-Duty Gap
In 2014, French and Italian fighter jets had to intercept a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines plane that was en route to Switzerland because the Swiss Air Force does not operate during nights and weekends.
2. In 2016, while filming a movie about a plane hijacking at Malta’s airport, a real-life hijacking occurred, halting production. The crew repurposed footage of passengers exiting the real hijacked plane for the movie, even casting some passengers as extras. The producer described it as a “blessing from the sky on a day of bad acting.”
3. In 2007, the pilot of a hijacked Mauritanian flight cleverly thwarted the hijacker. He instructed passengers over the PA in French to brace for a rough landing and to attack the hijacker while off balance. Since the gunman did not speak French, he failed to understand the pilot’s instructions, and the plan worked.
4. In 1986, Palestinian terrorists hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 in Pakistan. When they demanded the passengers’ passports, Neerja Bhanot, a 22-year-old Indian flight attendant, bravely hid 41 American passports. She tragically died while shielding three children from gunfire and was posthumously awarded bravery medals by both India and the United States.
5. In 1994, a disgruntled FedEx employee attempted to hijack and crash a FedEx flight using hammers and a speargun. Despite suffering traumatic head injuries, one pilot flew the plane upside down while the other fought the assailant until they subdued him. Both pilots survived and safely landed the plane.
6 Lead Hijacker Survives Crash
In 1948, hijackers led an unsuccessful attempt to rob wealthy passengers aboard the seaplane ‘Miss Macao.’ The plane crashed, killing everyone except the lead hijacker, who survived by jumping out of the emergency exit just before impact.
7. Betty Ong, a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11-the first airplane hijacked during the September 11 attacks-alerted the airline’s ground crew about the hijacking. She stayed on the phone for 25 minutes, providing critical information that eventually led to the FAA closing U.S. airspace for the first time in history.
8. In 1998, the FBI tried to extract DNA from cigarette butts smoked by the unidentified hijacker D.B. Cooper during his 1971 heist but discovered that the butts had been destroyed by the Las Vegas field office.
9. In 1987, a lone attacker armed with dynamite hijacked Air New Zealand Flight 24 while it was on the tarmac in Fiji. After six tense hours, the captain offered the hijacker a whiskey and sent the flight engineer to fetch it. The ordeal ended when the flight engineer returned with the bottle and knocked out the hijacker. The attacker later received a suspended sentence and went on to become a member of Fiji’s House of Representatives.
10. During the 1960s and 1970s, hijackings from the USA to Cuba became so frequent that pilots were provided detour flight plans. Authorities even considered constructing a fake “Havana airport” in South Florida.
11 Co-Pilot Disarms Hijacker’s Bomb
In 1960, a terrorist armed with a bomb attempted to hijack Trans Australia Flight 408. The co-pilot heroically punched him in the face and ripped the wires off the bomb, saving 49 lives.
12. TWA Flight 541 was hijacked in 1978 by the daughter of a woman who had been killed while hijacking a helicopter to free a federal prisoner. That prisoner was incarcerated for hijacking a TWA flight in 1972.
13. On October 2, 1990, a hijacked Boeing 737 sideswiped a Boeing 707 and then collided with a Boeing 757 at China’s former Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport. The incident resulted in 128 fatalities and left the captain of the 707 injured.
14. In 1972, authorities arrested two students who were planning to contaminate Chicago’s water supply with typhoid, anthrax, and other diseases. Released on bond, they hijacked a plane and forced it to go to Cuba. One died in prison while the other eventually returned to the U.S. and received five years of probation.
15. The “Golden Age of Hijacking,” which spanned from 1961 to 1972, saw the hijacking of over 150 flights in American airspace. At its peak, the rate of hijacking planes was nearly one per week, and in some cases, more than once in a single day.
16 Flaps Signal Aircraft Hijacking Alert
When an aircraft is hijacked and forced to land, the pilot lowers the aircraft’s flaps after landing as a covert signal to alert the control tower about the hijacking.
17. In June 1985, a drunk student hijacked a Boeing in Norway and ransomed the passengers for beer. After consuming the plane’s entire beer supply, he demanded to speak with the prime minister. He eventually surrendered in exchange for even more beer.
18. During the 9/11 attacks, passengers on UA Flight 93 bravely fought to regain control of the hijacked plane. The plane ultimately crashed in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania, preventing it from reaching its intended target in Washington, D.C., and reducing the potential death toll.
19. Alan Funt, creator of “Candid Camera,” was on a hijacked flight with his family. Passengers recognized him and believed the hijacking was a skit for his show. Only when the plane diverted and landed in Cuba did they realize it was real.
20. During the 9/11 attacks, fighter jets were dispatched to intercept United Airlines Flight 93, which was believed to be heading for Washington, D.C. As there was no time to arm the jets with missiles, the pilots were ordered to ram the hijacked aircraft to neutralize it.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
21 Hijacker Parachutes, Drowns in Mud
In 2000, a would-be hijacker was blocked from entering the cockpit of Philippine Airlines Flight 812. He proceeded to rob the passengers before parachuting out of the plane. While his homemade parachute worked, he drowned after landing in mud.
22. In 1981, an ex-Christian monk hijacked a plane en route from Dublin to London, demanding that Pope John Paul II reveal the Third Secret of Fátima.
23. Three men hijacked an American DC-9 in 1972 with the intention of negotiating a large ransom with Castro. Instead, Castro had them arrested and returned the aircraft, passengers, and money to the United States.
24. In 1971, an Indian Airlines flight was hijacked and flown to Lahore, Pakistan. There, future President and Prime Minister Zulfikar Bhutto welcomed the hijackers and paid tribute to them. In response, India closed its airspace to Pakistan, a decision that played a significant role in the 1971 war.
25. In 1973, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) hijacked a helicopter, flew it to Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, landed in the exercise yard, and helped three IRA volunteers escape. This daring act, dubbed ‘the escape of the century,’ made headlines around the world.
#20 is not accurate. The pilots themselves decided they would crash into any planes as they were only loaded with a few hundred training rounds in their guns. The armory was on the other side of Andrews AFB and t&eremwas no time to load missiles.
RE: Fact #4 (Flight Attendant Hero Saves Passengers) – Her life is a movie, called Neerja. Her mom met Sonam Kapoor, who played Neerja in the movie, and she said, “My daughter was prettier!”
She was
That movie really got to me. When it ended, it was dead quiet, and then all I could hear were sniffles all around. It was crazy, everyone was crying, even the guys!
RE: Fact #26 (Survivors Drowned After Plane Crash) – I don’t get why they just tell you not to inflate your life jacket before getting off the plane. They don’t explain why. Like, if the plane fills with water and you’ve got your life jacket inflated, you’ll end up stuck on the ceiling. Seems like if they just said that, more people would realize how important it is to wait until you’re outside.
Those things never say anything about being hurt or dangerous, so you can’t really say “do this or you’ll die from that”.
RE: Fact #7 (9/11 Attendant Alerts Ground Crew) – Can you believe the guy who decided to shut down all US airspace was on his very first day?
RE: Fact #1 (wiss Air Force Off-Duty Gap) – Haha sorry dude, I just got out of work, can it wait till Monday?
This one time, customs just completely messed up and didn’t have anyone around when a whole bunch of sailors came in after their big race. They’d been going at it nonstop for a week, and they just wanted a shower and some sleep, but customs was like “not our problem!” The race has been going on forever, since 1975, so you’d think they’d have someone on duty, right? There are usually two customs officers at the main ports after hours.
Sailing to Bermuda, the steering chain in the binnacle snapped. We managed to fix it with some dyneema line and made it to port. We paid a fortune to ship a new chain overnight, but customs wouldn’t even look at it! Our weather window was closing, so we sailed on to St. Maarten after a few days. We were stuck in St. Maarten for three days because the customs officers were MIA. The local police told the captain that if customs didn’t show up by 10am, they wouldn’t even come in at all that day!
Thankfully US customs didn’t ask about the missing passport stamp when I flew back.
If the office hours are posted, it’s their problem.
This happens way more than you might expect.
Swiss people think they’re funny? Try doing an exercise with the Dutch air force. Those guys are unionized and don’t care about anything, but they’re great to get drunk with.
RE: Fact #18 (Passengers Brave Fight on Flight 93) – After talking it over, the passengers decided to fight back against the hijackers. They told people on the ground what they were planning to do. One of the passengers, Thomas Burnett Jr., called his wife and said, “I know we’re all going to die, but three of us are going to do something about it. I love you, honey.” Another passenger, Todd Beamer, was heard saying, “Are you guys ready? Let’s roll.” Sandy Bradshaw, a flight attendant, called her husband and told him she was filling pitchers with boiling water. Her last words were: “Everyone’s running to first class. I’ve got to go. Bye.”
It’s impossible to imagine what those passengers were thinking, knowing they were going to die. But they did the right thing. They made history.
RE: Fact #43 (Al-Qaeda Considered Nuclear Hijacking Targets) – My dad worked on the last nuclear power plant built in the US, so I remember him talking about the reactor building. It’s pretty deep underground, surrounded by tons of concrete and steel. A plane would have a hard time getting through even to the ground level, let alone all the way down to the actual reactor.
RE: Fact #12 (Hijacker’s Daughter Hijacks TWA Flight) – My dad, he pulled off a bank heist when I was little. He got out and did it again, same bank, everything. Then he got caught, again. Some people just don’t learn.
He ended up working in the fishing industry in Alaska and seemed to do okay. But we never really got close again.
It’s like a movie, right? This guy used to rob banks but he’s retired now, just chilling in Alaska fishing. Then his old buddy shows up and asks him to do one last job. He says no at first but then gets all nostalgic about robbing banks and decides he’s in.
RE: Fact #42 (Egypt-Cyprus Hijacking Ends in Bloodshed) – Wow, that’s some serious incompetence.
It’s almost funny how bad it is. You know, when your military promotes people based on who they know, this is what you get.
Not many special forces teams have the skills to pull off a hostage rescue on a plane. It’s like trying to have a gunfight in a phone booth.
Charging it with a jeep? That’s just ridiculous.
RE: Fact #9 (Flight Engineer Stops Hijacker) – I can just imagine one of those tiny whiskey bottles falling right on his head.
That’s like something straight out of a Mel Brooks or Leslie Nielsen movie.
RE: Fact #46 (Flight 93 Cockpit Voice Recorder Reveals Battle) – Before 9/11, it was pretty easy to break into a cockpit. Now they’re reinforced and almost impossible to get into. On that Germanwings flight, they couldn’t even break the door down with an axe.
That’s why they have the two-person rule in the cockpit. Most modern planes have doors that can’t be opened from the outside, so they need two people in there. Otherwise, if someone wanted to do something bad, there’s no way to stop them.
RE: Fact #17 (Drunk Hijacker Demands More Beer) – Alright, listen up everyone! It’s Norway or bust.
Chill out, just give the guy his beer and point him to runway 4-4.
Runways are numbered based on their direction, so you can’t have a runway 44.
All runways start at 01 and end at 36.
RE: Fact #12 (Hijacker’s Daughter Hijacks TWA Flight) – Daughter: “Hey Dad, when did we start taking over stuff?”
Dad: “It all started when our ancestors took over the wheel…”
Kronk swiped our ancestor Lunk’s fire, so he decided to get back at him by stealing his new invention, the wheel.
RE: Fact #4 (Flight Attendant Hero Saves Passengers) – This guy on the flight was a guest speaker at a class I took a while back. He was one of the few who actually opened a door on the plane, you know, the one over the wing. He got to the back of the wing and was about to jump down when he said he never really thought about how high a 747 wing actually is.
The back door with the slide was open, so he got a running start and jumped from the wing onto the slide. A few people tried to follow him, but most of them missed and hit the ground. Turns out he’s a really good racquetball player, so he’s pretty athletic.
Anyway, it was a pretty cool story.
I thought they were flying, haha!
RE: Fact #7 (9/11 Attendant Alerts Ground Crew) – That poor woman, she probably knew she was going to die, but stayed on the line so it wouldn’t be worse for others.
RE: Fact #4 (Flight Attendant Hero Saves Passengers) – The kid, he was seven back then, is now a captain for a big airline. He says Bhanot inspired him, that he owes his whole life to her.
This is the real deal for those who already know.
I wouldn’t even want to be a passenger after that, let alone fly the thing. Good for him.
He probably wanted to get over his fear, thinking about Neerja.
RE: Fact #5 (Injured Pilots Foil Hijacker) – Working at the FedEx hub, this whole thing really bummed me out. It killed one of the best things about the job: free flights. Back then, anyone could hop on a FedEx plane for free, going wherever it was headed. My buddy and I used to fly to the Caribbean on Fridays for fishing trips, back by Sunday night, the whole thing on the house. This guy totally messed it up.
It would’ve been better to never have gotten the perk in the first place than having it taken away.
And to make matters worse, the big bosses still got to keep their fancy perk.
RE: Fact #48 (Fugitive George Wright’s Escape Hijacking) – This guy was involved in a robbery and murder back in ’62. The victim? A World War II veteran, at his own gas station. He got sent to prison for a long time, 15 to 30 years. But after only eight years, he escaped, just like that! He stole the warden’s car and took off with some buddies. They even dressed up one of them as a priest. Then, with a gun hidden in a Bible, they hijacked a plane! He demanded the biggest ransom ever at that time, just to free the passengers. Then he took the crew with him, flew to Boston to refuel, and finally escaped to Africa. He ended up in Guinea Bissau, became a humanitarian worker, and everyone liked him. Later, he moved to Portugal using a fake name and started a family. He lived a double life for years, but he finally got caught. Even though Portugal knew he was using a fake ID, they refused to hand him over to the US twice! They said he was a Portuguese citizen. He got away with everything, man!
RE: Fact #43 (Al-Qaeda Considered Nuclear Hijacking Targets) – Most nuclear power plants are built strong enough to handle a big crash, like a plane hitting them.
So, if humor is tragedy plus time, I’m thinking about this crazy idea: terrorists attack the US again, but this time they hijack planes and fly them into nuclear plants. Everyone around the plant is freaking out, watching the plane come closer and closer, thinking it’s going to be a nuclear 9/11. They’re about to die, counting down the seconds until the plane hits. Then, bam! The plane just crumples like a can in a cartoon, and the plant only gets a tiny dent.
RE: Fact #24 (Future Pakistani Leader Greets Hijackers) – I get that there are two sides to every story, but it’s hard not to think the Pakistani government is really out of touch. They just don’t seem to get how their actions make them look to the rest of the world.
Like, India can buy weapons from anyone they want, but Pakistan is stuck with these old US planes and cheap Chinese stuff. It’s because their behavior makes people distrust them.
China only sells to them because they both want to control Kashmir, it’s got that important water supply. And the US only keeps giving them parts for their old equipment. Otherwise, they’d be stuck with those cheap Chinese planes.
RE: Fact #11 (Co-Pilot Disarms Hijacker’s Bomb) – That’s like 127 lives today, if you adjust for inflation.
RE: Fact #8 (D.B. Cooper’s DNA Lost) – The FBI actually has his DNA, from the tie he left behind when he jumped.
Why would there be DNA on a tie? Was it used like a…well, you know.
RE: Fact #2 (Real Hijacking Halts Movie Filming) – Melvin Rotherberg thought the event was a real stroke of luck, especially after the bad acting.
RE: Fact #6 (Lead Hijacker Survives Crash) – That’s a total Archer move!
I almost heard him laugh, “Woooo!”
RE: Fact #3 (Pilot’s Clever French Instructions) – Imagine being stuck on a plane with everyone arguing, and you can’t understand a word they’re saying. And then the plane starts shaking!
The service was terrible. I asked for water and the guy serving me pulled a gun on me.
This is a Wendy’s, dude.
RE: Fact #23 (Castro Arrests American Hijackers) – The same trick was used to get someone out of a Mexican prison back in 1971. They made a movie about it with Charles Bronson as the pilot.
RE: Fact #6 (Lead Hijacker Survives Crash) – Made it through by using cartoon logic. Check out Bugs Bunny to see how it works.
RE: Fact #13 (China Airport Collision After Hijacking) – Am I the only one who thinks it’s weird to single out a captain’s injury? There must have been tons of people hurt.
Everyone on the plane, except a few crew members, had already gotten off by the time the thing happened.
RE: Fact #19 (Passengers Mistake Hijacking for Prank) – It looks pretty much the same to me as the regular stock market.
The first stock market was in Holland, and you could even invest in ships that would bring back spices from Asia. So, yeah, that’s basically how it started.
RE: Fact #16 (Flaps Signal Aircraft Hijacking Alert) – You’ll see a lot of planes with their flaps down in the winter. We do that to make sure the de-icers can clean the ice off the flaps before we take off again. I’m an airline pilot, so I know what I’m talking about.
RE: Fact #17 (Drunk Hijacker Demands More Beer) – He kinda played it safe. He could’ve asked for more.
RE: Fact #8 (D.B. Cooper’s DNA Lost) – I think it’s funny that some people say he’s Tommy Wiseau. They both have the same kinda face and that weird way of talking. And apparently people who know Tommy say he’s way older than he claims and he just appeared in Hollywood with a ton of cash out of nowhere.
RE: Fact #46 (Flight 93 Cockpit Voice Recorder Reveals Battle) – I was at work that day. The people on UA 93 were heroes, they saved so many lives. I still get choked up thinking about what they did.
9/11 changed this country for the worse. But the people on those flights, the people in the towers, and everyone who rushed in to help, they were all heroes, every single one of them.
RE: Fact #8 (D.B. Cooper’s DNA Lost) – It’s one of the weirdest true stories ever. Part of me thinks he died, but then you’d think they would have found something, like his body or his parachute.