Southern Airways Flight 49
The Abduction of Southern Airways Flight 49 began on 10 November 1972 in Birmingham, Alabama, took more than 30 hours, and extended over 6400 km before it ended on the following night in Havana, Cuba. Melvin Cale, Louis Moore and Henry D. Jackson Jun. could the plane, which was on a scheduled flight from Birmingham, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama, successfully kidnap. All three were wanted for various crimes. During the kidnapping there were 34 people on board, including 3 crew members. The kidnappers threatened to crash the plane into a nuclear reactor.
Kidnapping and ransom demands
Shortly after the plane on Friday, November 10, 1972 at 19:20 clock took off in Birmingham to fly to Montgomery and then more destinations in Alabama and Florida, took over armed with handguns and hand grenades hijackers take control of the Douglas DC -9 and demanded a ransom of 10 million U.S. dollars. The hijackers forced the pilot various destinations in Canada and the United States to fly, including Cleveland, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, Lexington, Kentucky, and Toronto, Canada, while constantly changing the demands for money, until they landed finally in Cuba. Among other things, the kidnappers threatened to crash the plane in the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, if monetary demands were not met; one of the hijackers also announced: "I'm not playing If you do not get that money together, I'm gonna crash this plane in Oak Ridge.. " (eg: ". ., I 'm not kidding, if you do not bring the money together, I will leave this plane crash in Oak Ridge " ) When the plane about Oak Ridge, Tennessee circled, the kidnappers negotiated with numerous officials, including FBI officials who could match only between two and two and a half million dollars in ransom. The plane landed later at the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport to receive the money after the transfer should take place at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tennessee originally, but this was rejected by the kidnappers. Having received less than the required ransom, raised from the plane with destination Havana. Contrary to expectations, the hijackers of Cuban leader Fidel Castro did not take them on in Cuba; therefore, they flew to Orlando, Florida and planned to fly to Algeria on ( but that was impossible because of the limited range of the aircraft ). This was the first time that a plane left with the hijackers aboard Cuba. During the subsequent stay on the McCoy Air Force Base in Orlando, Florida, in which the aircraft was refueled, the FBI blew up two of the four tires to prevent a restart. In a subsequent scuffle aboard the copilot was shot in the arm and forced the pilot to start the aircraft in spite of broken tires.
End of the abduction
The kidnapping came to an end when the plane on Saturday, 11 November landed again in Havana. The kidnappers were removed by force from the plane, after snipers of the Cuban authorities had placed in position. Henry Jackson and Louis Moore were each sentenced to 20 years, Melvin Cale to 15 years in Cuban prisons. Cuba handed over the aircraft, the crew, the passengers and the ransom to the United States. After the kidnappers had completed their sentences in Cuba, they were extradited to the United States, where they were sentenced to further punishments.
Follow
Until then, hijackings were seen by airlines as a manageable risk. If you would respond to the demands would be the successful outcome guaranteed uninjured passengers intact aircraft and made safe after ransom the kidnappers were arrested. This would be cheaper than intrusive security measures at all U.S. airports.
After Flight 49 with his potential nuclear disaster, the physical examination of all air passengers was introduced 5 January 1973.