This document discusses the history of terrorism targeting aviation from the 1930s to the present. It outlines four eras of attacks: 1930-1979 which saw hijackings for political asylum or money; 1980-1990 which had more deadly hijackings by Middle Eastern groups; 1991-2001 which included increased airport attacks; and the post 9/11 era. The document examines how security measures introduced new challenges and pushed terrorists to become more creative and deadly in their tactics over time.

1. Chpt 2 – Terrorism
Fundamental strategies for attacking aviation:
Hijackings
Bombings
Airport assaults

2. Traditional objective for past hijackings
was to:
“land and negotiate”
Then: Terrorists used hostages to leverage arrangements or
demands
Now: Terrorist use airliners as guided missiles
What differences to AVSEC mission from then to now?
None: mission remains the same – to prevent or deter hijackigs
or attacks from occurring.

3. Why examine past attacks?
As we look to the past is becomes apparent that acts to mitigate
threats often create the next challenge.
“Airport security measures have simply chased out the
amateurs and left the clever and the audacious.” – Malcolm
Gladwell on 9-11.

4. Criminals and terrorists have become more
creative, more daring and more deadly as new
technologies and strategies, such as baggage
screening and air marshals are introduced.
Reducing the number of criminal or terrorist attacks
also increases the potential severity of future attacks.

5. 4 Eras of Attacks:
1. 1930-1979
2. 1980-1990
3. 1991-2001
4. Post 9-11

6. 1930-1979:
Hijackings – prior to 1960:
*escape persecution or prosecution
• Hostage taking to extort money
• Cuba or Mexico
• Bombings were rare but usually result of insurance
fraud

7. 1960s: Hijackings turned deadly and became standard
ops procedure for Middle Eastern terrorist groups
*leverage hostages for release of political prisoners
*call attention to their cause
*more dangerous to terrorists than hostages
10 hijackings/year – most ended with shooting
deaths of hijackers .

8. First recorded hijacking: Feb 21, 1031 Arequipa, Peru
Armed revolutionaries approached Byron Rickards
and demanded use of his aircraft.
Rickards refused for several days.
Revolutionaries informed Rickards their uprising had
been successful and he was free to go providing he
flew one of their members to Lima, Peru.

9. Fundamental precept in aviation security = criminals
and terrorists will assess new technologies and
dtermine if those technologies can improve their
chances for success.
Osama bin Laden – use of agricultural aircraft to
deliver chemical or biological weaons.
Recently terrorist assess use of helicopters to
commit terrorist acts or assist in surveillance, access to
lower levels of NAS.

10. First airline bombing: 1933
United Airlines B-247 CLE-ORD
Nitroglycerin-based explosive detonated by a timing
device – killed all 7 on board.
*no one prosecuted for the attack…. Why?
No pax or baggage screening reqs.
Regs addressing these AVSEC concerns would not
begin until 1971 – 40 years later.

11. 1949 – insurance fraud on the rise
flight crew worked together with hijackers
Kiosks in airports for pax to purchase insurance on
themselves before departure.
Kiosks used for insurance fraud…. NTSB not fully
formed and investigations could not determine if
crash was accident or intentional.

12. 1955 aircraft-related bombings significant
United airlines Flight#629:
Daisie King – son placed dynamite inside his mother’s
luggage in an attempt to claim more than #37,000 in
life insurance money.
Julian Frank – blew up his flight carrying dynamite in
his carry-on in an attempt to will money to his
relatives.

13. Pax Dupe scenarios
Pax unknowningly brings explosives onto an
airplane…. Leads to “first level” pax profiling:
1. Has anyone unknown to you asked you to carry an
item on this flight?
2. Have any of the items you are traveling with been
out of your immediate control since the time you
packed them?

14. 1947-1953: 23 hijackings worldwide
*Europeans seeking various forms of political asylum
covered most attacks
*Pilots provided firearms training….
*Pilots were considered mail carriers (mail carriers
were armed back then) as they operated aircraft
transporting mail.
July 6, 1954 – 15 year old stormed the cockpit of AA
DC-6. Captain was packin and shot and killed the
perpetrator.

15. 1960-1980
Fidel Castro
>240 hijackings/attempted hijackings related to Cuba
Anti-hijacking Act of 1974
Mandated pax and carry-on baggage screening
>60 hijacks/attempted hijacks after Anti-Hijacking Act
was implemented

16. First U.S. Hijacker: Antuilo Ramierez Ortiz
Used a gun to force the flight crew of a National
Airlines’ jet to divert ot Cuba
Pres. JFK implemented the first Air Marshall program
Organized originally under the U.S. Marshall Service;
reorganized in 1985 under the FAA.
Death penalty/ 20 years in prison for hijacking an
aircraft.
1971 – FAR Part 107 implemented: airports responsible
for protecting airfield

17. 1968-1973 : peak of hijackings and antihijacking
measures.
@364 total hijackings worldwide (U.S. DOT)
Three reasons for hijackings:
Political asylum
Release of prisoners
Financial gain
Measures taken to deter future hijackings:
FAA created task force to study methods
Findings resulted in First Hijacker Profile
Metal detectors were implemented
First Hijacker Profile: set of behaviors that hijackers would
generally folow after hijacking an aircraft, specifically to
allow the aircraft to land and let negotiations begin.

18. What problems did the “jet age” bring to AVSEC?
1970 marked epic proprotion of hijackings, 32 involving
Cuba in 1969 alone
Faster aircraft
More passengers
More fuel
Hijackers could now fly farther and faster and had more
hostages on board.

19. 1970: 3 atempted hijackings occurred; similar
motivation and tactics as 9-11
#1
EA Flt. 1320 EWR – BOS
Pax John DiVivo entered cockpit with a gun and ordered
the crew to crash the plane.
Crew fought back – FO Hartley disarmed DiVivo and shot
him but was mortally wounded. Capt. Wilbur injured but
landed the plane safely.

20. #2
1972: 3 criminals (one an escaped convict) took over a
Southern Airways DC-9 demanding $10 mil.
Directed plane back and forth over the country and
threatened to crash into a nuclear facility in Tennessee
31 pax held for over 29 hours
FO shot and wounded before ordeal ended

21. #3
1974: attempt to crash a plane into the white house.
Samuel Byck – stole a pistol, shot and killed an airport police
officer at BWI, boarded a DAL DC-9 and ordered the pilots to
take off and fly low towards Washington D.C.
Intention was to crash into the white house in attempt to
assassinate Pres. Nixon.
Pilots refused to take off – Byck shot both pilots, killing the
FO and ordered a pax to help the Captain fly te plane.
FBI agent fired through a window in the aircraft’s door
killing Byck.

22. Characteristics of hijackings:
Only 1 or 2 hijackers who used
guns, grenades, bombs, and sometimes only the threat
of a bomb in order to take over the flight.
Response to hijackings was straightforward – disable
the aircraft: shoot out tires
Response is to keep the aircraft on the ground
Crisis is less ephemeral and risky
Hijacked aircraft can land outside a country’s jurisdiction
Creates hazards to air navigation
Weapon of mass destruction
“Airborne hijacked aircraft is essentially a roving crime
scene in progress with huge dynamic and random elements
at play.”

23. Middle East and Asia
Much fewer bombings in comparison to USA, but
resulted in greater loss of life and overall destruction
Focus on extorting release of prisoners or political
message
Ever wonder why Israel is the world’s leader and
example in AVSEC?
First hijacking in Middle East was on Israeli Airline El Al
in 1968

24. 3 gunmen (from Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine, PLFP)
hijacked Flt. 426 FCO-TLV
Forced landing in Algiers
Hijackers demanded release of certain Arab prisoners
News crew on hand when plane landed, which demonstrated
the power of hijacking as a tool to attract worldwide attention
No one killed, no Arab prisioners released
Result – Israel implemented the strictest security measures on
El Al and adopted a retalitation policy toward those groups who
seek to harm Israeli citizens

25. 6 months after El Al flt 426 hijacking, 2 terrorist with
automatic weapons and hand grenades boarded a
flight.
Substantial damage to aircraft
1 person killed
El Al implemented an police escort on taxi
Retalitation policy = Israeli commandoes raided the
airport in Beirut, Lebanon and destroyd a dozen
Lebanese registered aircraft
There has never been another successful hijacking of
an El Al airliner

27. Attacks on Middle East on commercial aviation didn’t
necessarily take place in the Middle East
Several attacks in Europe on Mid. East. Airliners
Attacks throughout Europe and Asia, majority in Soviet
Union.
Nowhere near the rate of hijackings during this time
period as was taking place in the United States.

28. PFLP strikes again:
1970: Palestinian hijackers depart from 3 separate airports
with intent to hijack 3 aircraft enroute from Europe to
United States
Intent was to land the aircraft at remote airfield and hold
pax hostage in attempt to negotiate release of other PFLP
members.
El Al #219 AMS-JFK on B707, one of the hijackers, Khaled -a
woman, had previous experience hijacking and had plastic
surgery to change her appearance
4 suspicious passengers identified by crew//…. Capt.
Allowed 2 on board, including Khaled, but denied the other
2
20 min into flight hijacking was initiated using pistols and
hand grenades
Threats to crew to open the cockpit door
Capt. Used “negative G pushover” tactic = in chaos security
personnel and pax overwhelmed the hijackers.

30. Airports:
Third major form of attack against global aviation
Provide shelter, services, various levels of security to aircraft
while on the ground
Pax and employees make transition from land transport to
flight and hold hundreds and thousands of people at a time
Transit point for more than 30,000 flights a day in the U.S.
Disruption or shut down of airport can resulte in disruptions
throughout NAS
Public faciliteis where screening is not required for entry
into a u.S. airport – increasing the possibiity for anyone to
enter the facility with guns, grenades, or other explosive
devices
Airports are national assets – essential to AVSEC function

31. PFLP – Strikes yet again!
Lod Int’l airport – TLV:
1972: 3 terrorists of Japanese Red Army (recruited by
PFLP) opened fire in baggage claim killing 26 people
and injuring dozens more
1973: shot their way through FCO airport destroying an
aircraft – 30 people died

32. Unabomber: Ted Kaczynski – mail parcel containing
bomb exploded in the Cargo hold of AA #444 ORD-IAD
First time bomb was used as Cargo
Air Cargo Security remains the focus of much attention
and rule-making…. Though most bombs are put on board
as carry-on or checked luggage
1971: Cooper parachuted out of an airplance he hijacked
and held for ransom…. 19 more parachute hijackings
followed
Boeing installed the “Cooper Vane” – which prevents the
rear air stairs from lowering in flight
This only motivated hijackers to devlop new tactics.

33. Narco-Terrorism:
Narcotics drug cartels targeted aircraft in Columbia
Escobar orchestrated bombing campaign to eliminate
informats, police and politicians
Airline employees – with access to cargo and baggage
holds were frequently paid to smuggle drugs on board
Ease of drugs smuggled on board alerted the fact that
bombs could also be smuggled on board with as much
ease.

34. 1980-1990: Aviation Policies
Hijackings turned more deadly, and several more attacks on
airports
Flammable liquids became a popular attack method as
terrorists would distribute around the plane and threaten to
light it
Air Marshal program reorganized under the FAA in 1985…..
About the same time hijackings ended in the United States.
Terrorists dressed up as security guards
Bombs were left in public restrooms to kill random people
Anne Marie Murphy:
TLV on El Al – fiance was a Syrian Intel agent who lined her
suitcase with explosives

35. Flt. 847:
TWA attack by Shiite Muslim terrorists ATH-FCO
Significant for lessons provided for years to come
Mass media brought real-time to event
Thousands of miles of airspace, several
governments, operations at 3 major airports affected, death of
U.S. serviceman, rise to Hezbollah, and a flight attendant saved
the day!
Lessons learned:
Keep aircraft on the ground
Crew training in emergency safety and security ops
Crew training in crisis management/security incident
Crews are effectively hostages – cannot be counted on to make
decisions
Crew decides whether SOP are followed or safer to deviate