Aviation marks 80th anniversary of first aircraft hijacking - 1931

MONDAY the 21st February marks the 80th anniversary of the first recorded hijacking and the birth of aviation security, reports Aviation Security International.


On the that day in 1931, Captain Byron Rickards flew his Ford Tri-Motor aircraft from Lima to Arequipa in Peru to be greeted on landing by armed revolutionaries needing the plane to distribute leaflets.


Capt Rickards refused to fly anywhere, was held captive for 10 days and only released when he agreed to fly one of the revolutionaries back to Lima.


He also had the misfortune to be the first captain to be hijacked twice - on August 3, 1961, when as part of a father and son team he entered the cockpit of his Continental Airlines flight preparing to depart from El Paso and was told by hijackers to fly to Cuba.


The FBI shot out the aircraft's tyres and the hijackers surrendered.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)