1970s List of Cuba–United States aircraft hijackings

1 1970s

1.1 1970
1.2 1971
1.3 1972
1.4 1974
1.5 1978
1.6 1979

1970s
1970

february 16 man born in cuba, wife , 2 children, hijacks 727 newark cuba.
march 11 man hijacks 727 cleveland cuba; imprisoned in cuba attempting escape; fatally shot escaping prison on march 26, 1973.
april 22 in 1966 ira david meeks diagnosed paranoid schizophrenia. april 1970 hijacked plane on sightseeing tour wife pulling gun @ pilot demanding flown cuba. meeks told cuban authorities felt persecuted black man in america , had heard things better in cuba. cuba suspected him of being spy , deported him 1976. on arrival arrested hijacking fbi. freed in 1981 after spending years in jail , mental hospital.
may 25 man hijacks 727 chicago cuba.
july 1 george lopez hijacks dc-8 las vegas cuba.
august 2 man armed pistol , nitroglycerin hijacks pan flight 229, clipper victor, bound san juan new york cuba. first hijacking of newly introduced boeing 747 cuba , premiere fidel castro came out havana s josé martí airport see new airliner himself. castro reportedly met in person pan pilot captain augustus watkins , expressed concerns on ability of big plane take off safely small airport reassured pan captain.
august 19 3 men (two born in cuba, 1 born in spain) hijack dc-3 newark cuba (the plane s destination san juan).
august 20 man hijacks dc-9 atlanta cuba.
august 25 twa flight 134 bound philadelphia las vegas hijacked cuba following stopover in chicago. hijacker vietnam vet, robert labadie , first hijacker returned month following incident. boeing 727, 80 passengers , 6-person crew, landed in field in pittsburgh refuel, proceeded on havana s josé martí airport,landing @ 10:21 p.m.
september 19 man hijacks allegheny airlines 727 pittsburgh cuba pistol , home made bomb. [1]
october 30 l. rosas hijacks dc-8 miami cuba.
november 1 man born in mexico hijacks 727 san diego cuba; has 2 children him.
november 13 man hijacks airliner raleigh cuba.
december 19 man attempts hijack dc-9 albuquerque cuba. taken custody @ tulsa; sentenced 5 years subject medical mental examination conveying false information attempt commit air piracy.

1971

january 22, 1971 man hijacks 727 milwaukee, wisconsin, cuba; have gone algeria, if possible.
february 4 man hijacks dc-9 chicago cuba.
february 25 man hijacks 727 san francisco cuba or canada; ends in canada; deported on march 8, 1971; sentenced 10 years interference flight crew.
march 31 man born in venezuela hijacks dc-8 new york cuba; returns united states via bermuda on october 8, 1974.


key west international airport florida



april 5 former cuban hijacks cessna 402 key west cuba.
july 11 cubana de aviación aircraft hijacked @ cienfuegos, cuba (cienfuegos airport) resulting in 1 fatality. 2 hijackers taken down , hijacking lasted less 1 day.
july 24 man born in cuba hijacks dc-8 miami cuba, stewardess , passenger wounded.
september 3 man born in cuba, attempts hijack plane chicago cuba; sentenced 20 years interference flight crew on march 6, 1972.
october 9 man forces way aboard 727 in detroit , hijacks cuba.
october 18 man born in canada, unsuccessfully attempts hijack boeing 737 anchorage cuba; attempt ends in vancouver; deported united states on october 19, 1971, , sentenced 20 years air piracy on may 12, 1972.
october 25 man born in puerto rico hijacks boeing 747 new york cuba; plane bound san juan.
october 29 man, 2 sons, , third youth hijack eastern airlines jet houston havana. kill ticket agent during seizure of plane.
november 27 3 members of group republic of new afrika had murdered new mexico state policeman on november 8 hijacked twa flight 106, boeing 727, albuquerque havana. passengers released in tampa.

1972

january 7, 1972 man , woman hijack 727 san francisco cuba.
march 7 2 men force way aboard chalk s flying service grumman 73 (g/a) in miami, florida, wounding pilot, mechanic, , bystander. hijack plane cuba.
march 19 man , woman hijack cessna 206 key west cuba.
may 4–6 michael hansen hijacks boeing 737 flight salt lake city los angeles; wants go hanoi or cuba; goes cuba.
october 29 4 men force way aboard aircraft. kill ticket agent, wound ramp serviceman, , hijack plane cuba.
november 10 melvin c. cale, louis cale, , henry d. jackson, jr. hijack southern airways flight 49 birmingham multiple locations in united states, including cleveland, ohio, knoxville, tennessee, , chattanooga, tennessee; toronto, canada, , cuba $2 million in ransom (actual cash, presidential grant totaled $10 million) , 10 parachutes. co-pilot harold shot , wounded hijackers; threaten crash plane 1 of oak ridge nuclear installations; @ mccoy air force base, in orlando, fbi shoots out 2 tires; hijackers force pilot william haas take off; dc-9 lands on (partially) foam-covered runway in havana; jackson , louis cale sentenced in cuba 20 years, melvin cale 15 years, returned united states face further charges. incident leads brief treaty between u.s. , cuba extradite hijackers, not renewed. haas s story commemorated in reader s digest book people in peril

1974

december 14, 1974 robin harrison charters plane phone. on arrival @ airport office in tampa, points gun @ pilot of piper seneca , demands flight cuba.

1978

march 13, 1978 hijacker clay thomas hijacked united flight 696 out of san francisco. claimed have high explosive filled pipe bomb , wanted go cuba. flight 696 landed @ oakland , after passengers , cabin crew disembarked, began fueling flight cuba. surrounded police cars, thomas panicked, stopped refueling, , forced crew take off.


en route, flight 696 landed in denver take on more fuel. while waiting fuel truck, crew escaped cockpit jumping open cockpit windows. without hostages, thomas surrendered fbi.


the seattle-based crew, included captain alan grout, first officer jack bard, , second officer luke warfield injured during escape. subsequently recovered , returned flight duty during following months.

1979

june 12, 1979 delta air lines flight 1061, l-1011 piloted captain vince doda, hijacked eduardo guerra jimenez, former cuban air force pilot had hijacked mig jet united states 10 years earlier.




^ cite error: named reference chronology invoked never defined (see page).
^ n.c. hijacker forced plane cuba dies @ 59 associated press
^ cuban political violence in united states disorders , terrorism, national advisory committee, on criminal justice standards , goals washington: 1976. report of task force on disorders , terrorism appendix 6: chronology of incidents of terroristic, quasi-terroristic attacks, , political violence in united states: january 1965 march 1976 marcia mcknight trick
^ mahr, ed; mccrossen, eric (november 28, 1971). trio sought in slaying seizes jetliner here . albuquerque journal. retrieved october 5, 2017. 
^ time of transition: 70s, our american century, time-life books, alexandria, virginia, p.134-5
^ reader s digest (author/publisher). (1983). people in peril , how survived. re taking on plane , re not gonna have heroes! 573 pages.
^ ranter, harro. asn aircraft accident lockheed l-1011 tristar registration unknown havana . aviation-safety.net.