One of the hijackers held a stewardess, Jamye Mays of Pell City, Alabama, at gunpoint throughout the incident. On the evening of Wednesday, August 2, 1972, at a hurried 10-minute news conference after the DC-8's completion of the 11,500 miles (18,500 km) trip in Atlanta, the captain said he realized the aircraft was being hijacked when he left the cockpit to go to the lavatory and noticed a man aiming a gun at a stewardess. with the crew hostages, but the hijackers were released after a few days.

Algerian authorities seized the aircraft and ransom which were returned to the U.S. After refueling and taking on the engineer and provisions, the plane was dispatched to the runway and flew to Algeria. He also delivered a bag containing the $1 million ransom and other bags containing provisions requested by the hijackers, including cigarettes, apples, and ham and cheese sandwiches. Fudge was chosen to refuel the plane and deliver the flight engineer to the plane. Working with FBI agents on-site, Boston Delta airport maintenance foreman Ronald S. The aircraft was then flown to Boston, where they picked up a flight engineer who was qualified to fly the plane overseas. It flew to Miami as originally scheduled, where the 86 passenger hostages were released. None of the hostages were killed during the hijacking.įive hijackers who had boarded with three children took over the aircraft. Members of the Black Liberation Army took over the aircraft in flight using weapons smuggled on board, including a handgun hidden inside a Bible with its pages cut out to form a cavity.

There were 7 crew and 94 passengers on board the Douglas DC-8 for the flight from Detroit to Miami.

Delta 8417 flight radar live