List of aircraft hijackings

The following is a list of notable aircraft hijackings.

1910s 1919 (exact date unknown, possibly between March–July): In an incident often cited as the first aircraft hijacking in history—though verified primarily through the protagonist's own memoirs rather than contemporary press records—Hungarian aristocrat and noted paleontologist Baron Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás requisitioned an aircraft to flee the Hungarian Soviet Republic. Nopcsa, a scholar and former spy during World War I, forged documents from the Ministry of War to convince the military commander at the Mátyásföld Airfield near Budapest to provide him and his Albanian boyfriend, Bajazid Elmaz Doda, with a small airplane and a pilot. Somewhere over Győr, approximately halfway to their supposed destination of Sopron, Franz drew a revolver on the pilot and successfully had the flight redirected to Vienna, Republic of German-Austria.

1920s May 14, 1928: The first hijacking of an airplane in the United States occurred on the afternoon of this day, when a 28-year-old pilot named Harry W. Anderson was brutally attacked with a ball-peen hammer by his sole passenger, 18-year-old Clarence René Frechette. In an apparent suicide attempt, Frechette had arranged for a short flight in Anderson's biplane from Roseville, Michigan to Frechette's hometown of nearby Pontiac. When they were nearing their destination, at an altitude of about 2,000 feet above ground level, Frechette suddenly and viciously attacked the pilot with a hammer he had brought onboard, severely injuring Anderson and rendering him unconscious. The plane entered a spin and a steep dive, drawing the attention of many people on the ground, who mistakenly thought they were watching a stunt pilot perform an aerobatic exhibition. Just before the plane impacted the ground, Anderson regained consciousness and attempted to pull out of the dive, which likely saved the lives of both men. The biplane was destroyed in the crash, which occurred on the grounds of the Pontiac State Hospital, an insane asylum. Anderson was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries, including multiple skull fractures. Police interviewed him as he was wheeled into the operating room because the doctors feared he might not survive. Although it was difficult for Anderson to provide a statement because he had lost most of his teeth, he was able to tell the authorities what had occurred before he passed out. Frechette initially claimed that he had been the one flying the plane, and Anderson was the attacker, but the first rescuers to reach the crash site reported that Anderson's hands were still clutching the controls, and Frechette was holding a broken hammer. Authorities found several strange notes and letters in Frechette's clothes, including a note to his girlfriend that read, "Death is my postage, sweetheart." Frechette suffered only mild injuries in the crash, and after a brief stay in the hospital, he was transferred to the county jail and charged with attempted murder. Several months later, Frechette was found guilty by a jury of "assault with intent to do great bodily harm" and sentenced to six years in state prison, earning the nickname of America's first "air bandit." By the end of 1928, Anderson had made a full recovery from his injuries and returned to providing flight instruction at Packard Field in Roseville. 1929–1930 (unconfirmed): In the Fort Worth Star-Telegram daily newspaper (morning edition) 19 September 1970, J. Howard "Doc" DeCelles stated that he was actually the victim of the first skyjacking in December 1929. He was flying a postal route for the Mexican company Transportes Aereos Transcontinentales, ferrying mail from San Luis Potosí to Torreon and then on to Guadalajara. He was approached by Gen. Saturnino Cedillo, governor of the state of San Luis Potosí and one of the last remaining lieutenants of Pancho Villa. Cedillo was accompanied by several other men. He was told through an interpreter that he had no choice in the matter; he had to fly the group to their chosen destination. He stalled long enough to convey the information to his boss, who told him to cooperate. He had no maps, but was guided by the men as he flew above Mexican mountains. He landed on a road as directed, and was held captive for several hours under armed guard. He eventually was released with a "Buenos" from Cedillo and his staff. DeCelles kept his flight log, according to the article, but he did not file a report with authorities. He went on to work for the FAA in Fort Worth after his flying career.

1930s February 21, 1931: The first documented hijacking of a civilian airliner, for which detailed and reliable records exist, occurred on this date, when a Pan American-Grace Airways airmail flight landed in Arequipa, Peru and was surrounded by armed guerillas as the Ford Trimotor taxiied to the terminal. After seizing the plane, the hijackers demanded that the pilot, Captain Byron Dague Rickards, drop propaganda leaflets on Peruvian cities in order to rally support for their efforts to overthrow the provisional presidency of Lt. Col. Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro in Lima. When Rickards refused, the rebels took him hostage, along with the other two members of his crew: George Hillman, a mechanic, and Bill Grey, a pilot for the Faucett Aviation Company. The three men were held for several days, but news reports at the time indicate they were unharmed and "free to go where they please within the city" until British officials negotiated their release. Captain Rickards was later honored by the United States government for saving the mail aboard his plane. Thirty years later, Rickards would become the first pilot to be hijacked twice, when Continental Airlines Flight 54 was seized on August 3, 1961. September 25, 1932: the Panair do Brasil Sikorsky S-38 registration P-BDAD, still bearing the titles of Nyrba do Brasil, was seized in the company's hangar by three men, who took a fourth as hostage. Though none of the men were pilots, they managed to take off in the plane. However, the aircraft crashed in São João de Meriti, killing the four men. Apparently the hijacking was related to the events of the Constitutionalist Revolution in São Paulo, and it is considered to be the first Brazilian plane hijacking.

1940s July 25, 1947: A domestic Romanian flight from Bucharest to Craiova was hijacked by three army officers seeking political asylum from communist Romania. The airplane landed at Çanakkale in Turkey. During the hijacking, the flight mechanic, Mitrofan Bescioti, was shot by lieutenant Aurel Dobre. April 9, 1948: Twenty Czechs seized a Czech National Airlines commercial plane at gunpoint and flew it to the American occupation zone in Germany in a mid-air revolt to flee the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Five of the passengers and one of the flight crew chose to be repatriated. June 30, 1948: A domestic flight from Varna to Sofia was hijacked by Anti-Communists. The plane landed in Istanbul. The pilot was killed in the struggle. July 16, 1948: Miss Macao, a seaplane, was hijacked in an attempted robbery and then crashed into the Pearl River Delta. The crash killed 25 of the 26 passengers and crew. The lead hijacker, Huang Yu was the only survivor. September 13, 1948: A T.A.E. commercial flight from Athens to Thessaloniki was hijacked by eight young communists who asked the pilots to fly to Yugoslavia. The airplane landed near Skopje and, after the hijackers departed, the airplane returned to Greece. The 1987 film The Noose is based on this story.

1950s March 24, 1950: Three Douglas DC-3s from Czechoslovakia were simultaneously hijacked by former Czech Royal Air Force pilots seeking asylum in the West. Most of the hijackers were the crew of all three aircraft. All three planes landed at the US Air Force Base at Erding, West Germany. 26 of 85 passengers stayed in West Germany to escape from the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. This was the first incident of mass hijacking in aviation history. January 8, 1954: A man and a woman hijacked Aeroflot Flight 365, a Lisunov Li-2 en route from Tallinn to Leningrad with nine on board, demanding to be flown to Finland. Both hijackers were armed with pistols and the woman was also armed with a knife. Flight engineer Timofey Romashkin attempted to overpower the hijackers, but was shot and died a day later. Other crewmembers managed to finally subdue the hijackers and the aircraft turned around and returned to Tallinn. The flight engineer was posthumously awarded Hero of the Soviet Union, the pilot was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the remaining crew the Order of the Red Star. June 5, 1954: A team of KNDO (Karen National Defence Organisation) led by Maj Saw Kyaw Aye hijacked a Dakota DC-3 of Union of Burma Airways flying from Rangoon (Yangon) to the Arakan (Rakhine) State capital, Sittwe. There were 14 passengers and four airline staff. A monk, a woman and military officers were among those on board. The hijackers' plan was to use the plane to smuggle weapons for the KNDO to fight against the government army. Due to insufficient fuel, the plane could not land at their intended location and the smuggling plan was unsuccessful. However, there was a government-owned box of 700,000 kyats (US$333 in May 2025), guarded by a military officer, which the hijackers had not known about when planning the hijacking. The hijackers decided to steal the money, hand over control of the plane, and flee. July 13, 1956: Seven young Hungarian students, armed with nothing more than plastic wrenches, hijacked a Lisunov Li-2 of Malév Hungarian Airlines out of Budapest and landed it at a NATO Ingolstadt Manching Airbase in West Germany to escape from behind the Iron Curtain. September 5, 1958: Aeroflot Flight 365 en route from Leningrad to Tallinn with 16 on board was hijacked by a passenger, who demanded the pilot speak to a group of "interested passengers" and threatened to kill the crew if his demand was not met. The pilot locked himself in the cockpit and armed himself with a pistol. Both the pilot and the flight engineer fired at the door until the pistol was out of ammunition. The hijacker used homemade explosives which started a fire on board. The aircraft landed in flames at Jõhvi; all on board were able to escape except the hijacker, who died when the aircraft burned out. December 2, 1959: the Panair do Brasil Lockheed L-049/149 Constellation, registration PP-PCR, operating flight 246 en route from Rio de Janeiro – Santos Dumont to Belém, with 44 passengers and crew aboard, was seized and hijacked by officers of the Brazilian Air Force and made to land at Aragarças, Goiás. Their intention was to use the aircraft in a bombing of Government buildings in Rio de Janeiro, thereby starting a revolt against President Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira. The revolt faded after 36 hours and the aircraft was commanded to fly to Buenos Aires where the hijackers requested asylum. There were no casualties.

1960s July 19, 1960: In Australia's first hijacking, a man threatened to blow up Trans Australia Airlines Flight 408, but he was disarmed by a member of the crew and a passenger. 1961: Hijackers forced an aircraft to circle Lisbon to drop leaflets against the Estado Novo regime. After that, the 6 hijackers forced the crew to fly them back to Morocco. May 1, 1961: First U.S. airline flight hijacked to Cuba. A National Airlines Convair 440 flight from Marathon, Florida, to Key West was hijacked by a man carrying a knife and a gun who demanded the flight divert to Havana. The aircraft, piloted by Captain Francis X. Riley, was thought to be lost at sea for several hours before authorities learned it had been hijacked.