.jpg) N94S, The aircraft involved in the hijacking, while operating for Northwest Airlines in 1987 | |
| Hijacking | |
|---|---|
| Date | November 10–11, 1972 |
| Summary | Hijacking |
| Site | United States, Canada, and Cuba 33°33′52″N 86°45′17″W / 33.564571°N 86.754655°W |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-9-15 |
| Operator | Southern Airways |
| Registration | N94S |
| Flight origin | Memphis, Tennessee |
| Stopover | Birmingham, Alabama |
| 2nd stopover | Montgomery, Alabama |
| Last stopover | Orlando, Florida |
| Destination | Miami, Florida |
| Passengers | 31 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | 1 |
| Survivors | 35 |
The hijacking of Southern Airways Flight 49 started on November 10, 1972 in Birmingham, Alabama, stretching over 30 hours, three countries, and 4,000 miles (6,400 km), not ending until the next evening in Havana, Cuba.[1] Three men, Melvin Cale, Louis Moore, and Henry D. Jackson Jr. successfully hijacked a Southern Airways Douglas DC-9 that was scheduled to fly from Memphis, Tennessee to Miami, Florida via Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama and Orlando, Florida.[2][3][4] The three were each facing criminal charges for unrelated incidents.[2] Thirty-five people, including thirty-one passengers and four crew members, were aboard the airplane when it was hijacked.[2] The hijackers' threat to crash the aircraft into a nuclear reactor led directly to the requirement that U.S. airline passengers be physically screened, beginning January 5, 1973.[4]
- ^ Eblen, Tom, Lexington's airport owes a lot to Charles Lindbergh, Lexington Herald-Leader, August 4, 2010
- ^ a b c Time of Transition: The 70s, Our American Century, Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia, p. 134-5
- ^ "Johnson recalls hijacking 40 years later". Times-Dispatch (Lawrence County, Ark.). November 14, 2012. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
- ^ a b Koerner, Brendan (19 June 2013). "Skyjacker of the Day". Excerpted from the book "The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking". Slate. Retrieved 19 June 2013.