A routine shuttle flight from Newark to Boston. 73 people on board.
Back then, airline shuttle flights worked like a bus. No reservations. No security screening. No boarding pass. You walked on and paid the fare in-flight. A flight attendant would come around after takeoff to collect $15.75 from each passenger.
Twenty minutes in, the attendant reached passenger John Divivo. He said he had no money. Then he pulled a .38 revolver and demanded to be taken to the cockpit.
He told Captain Robert Wilbur to fly east over the ocean. Then said: "Let me know when we're two or three minutes from running out of fuel."
He wanted to kill everyone on board.
First Officer James Hartley, 30, quietly signaled a hijacking to air traffic control. Then, without warning, Divivo opened fire. Hartley was hit in the chest. Then Divivo turned the gun on the captain, hitting him in both arms.
Hartley, bleeding and dying, lunged at Divivo. Ripped the gun from his hands. Shot the hijacker three times. Then collapsed.
But Divivo got back up. Shot three times and still moving, he began clawing at Wilbur, trying to push the controls forward and crash the plane. Wilbur grabbed the gun and hit him over the head.
With a bullet in each arm, Wilbur flew the DC-9 to a safe landing at Boston Logan.
Back then, airline shuttle flights worked like a bus. No reservations. No security screening. No boarding pass. You walked on and paid the fare in-flight. A flight attendant would come around after takeoff to collect $15.75 from each passenger.
Twenty minutes in, the attendant reached passenger John Divivo. He said he had no money. Then he pulled a .38 revolver and demanded to be taken to the cockpit.
He told Captain Robert Wilbur to fly east over the ocean. Then said: "Let me know when we're two or three minutes from running out of fuel."
He wanted to kill everyone on board.
First Officer James Hartley, 30, quietly signaled a hijacking to air traffic control. Then, without warning, Divivo opened fire. Hartley was hit in the chest. Then Divivo turned the gun on the captain, hitting him in both arms.
Hartley, bleeding and dying, lunged at Divivo. Ripped the gun from his hands. Shot the hijacker three times. Then collapsed.
But Divivo got back up. Shot three times and still moving, he began clawing at Wilbur, trying to push the controls forward and crash the plane. Wilbur grabbed the gun and hit him over the head.
With a bullet in each arm, Wilbur flew the DC-9 to a safe landing at Boston Logan.
He radioed the tower: "My pilot is shot. Where the hell do you want me to park this thing?"
He never told them he was shot too.
72 passengers walked off that plane alive. Co-pilot James Hartley did not. His sacrifice saved every one of them.
This was the first hijacking in U.S. history to end with a death. It led directly to the first airport security screenings in America. The same screenings we still go through today started because of what happened on this flight.
He never told them he was shot too.
72 passengers walked off that plane alive. Co-pilot James Hartley did not. His sacrifice saved every one of them.
This was the first hijacking in U.S. history to end with a death. It led directly to the first airport security screenings in America. The same screenings we still go through today started because of what happened on this flight.
Pictured: Captain Robert Wilbur Jr. (left) and First Officer James Hartley (right)
No comments:
Post a Comment