This Is How The Unabomber Got His Bomb On A Plane In The First Place

Publish date: 2024-05-02

On November 15, 1979, American Airlines Flight 444 — a Boeing 747 that carried 72 passengers — was en route to Washington D.C. from Chicago. A report from The Washington Post noted that the plane took off at about 11:20 a.m. and shortly afterward, the pilot heard a noise described as a "thump." The flight continued on its journey but soon, smoke started to seep into the cabin. The pilot did an emergency landing at Dulles International Airport.

According to the FBI, a homemade device detonated in the cargo compartment of the plane. The Boeing landed safely and all passengers and crew members were fine, but some had to be treated for smoke inhalation. There was only little damage to the plane as well. One of the bombers aboard the flight, Arthur Plotnik, shared the harrowing experience in an article on Airplane Reading. Plotnik said that passengers were told to wear oxygen masks and "assume crash positions" to prepare for an emergency landing at the nearest airport, which was 25 minutes away. No one knew what was happening. "Those minutes went by in uncanny silence. With heads nested in folded arms, passengers seemed to be forestalling catastrophe by force of stillness, willing the plane to safety before smoke asphyxiated us or flames reached the fuel tanks," Plotnik wrote.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunB9j3FocW5iZMGptdJmoKxlmKTEbsDHnmSuppGXvK6uxKtkoKekYrWqv4ybpqaaXaS7bq2MqaOappVitq9506GcZp6Zp8C1ec%2BlmJydXw%3D%3D

ncG1vNJzZmidqqO9b63MrGpnnJmctrWty6ianpmeqL2ir8SsZZynnWS7psPSaKuhoaNitrR5x6iuZqyYmnq2usCbpqaalad6qLvTZp%2Biq12XvK6ujKilZpldpbmiusRmoKdlpJ2ybrLIq6qtZaChrqSxjGpwamxkY7W1ucs%3D