Pan Am Flight 281

Pan Am Flight 281
	A Pan Am Boeing 707 similar to the hijacked aircraft
Hijack
Date	November 24, 1968
Summary	Aircraft hijacking
Site	United States and Cuba;
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 707
Operator	Pan Am
Call sign	CLIPPER 281
Registration	Unknown
Flight origin	John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, United States
Stopover	Havana, Cuba
Destination	San Juan, Puerto Rico, United States
Occupants	103
Passengers	96
Crew	7
Fatalities	0
Survivors	103

Pan Am Flight 281 was a regularly scheduled Pan American World Airways flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico, operated by a Boeing 707. It was hijacked on November 24, 1968, by four men from JFK International Airport, New York City to Havana, Cuba.^[2]^[3] U.S. jet fighter aircraft followed the plane until it reached Cuban airspace.^[4]

Two of the hijackers were apprehended in the 1970s. Jose Rafael Rios Cruz was arrested in 1975; Miguel Castro was captured in 1976. Both pleaded guilty; Cruz was sentenced to 15 years in prison and Castro to 12.

A third hijacker, Luis Armando Peña Soltren, lived as a fugitive in Cuba. In October 2009, he voluntarily returned to the United States and surrendered to federal authorities. He pleaded guilty to the hijacking on March 18, 2010.^[5] On January 4, 2011 he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, without the possibility of parole.^[6]

Alejandro Figueroa, charged as a co-conspirator in the case, was acquitted in 1969.

References

↑ "15-Year Sentence for 1968 Hijacking". The New York Times. 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2013.
↑ "Suspect in 1968 hijacking at JFK is captured". CNN.com. October 12, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
↑ "Man arrested in '68 hijacking of flight from NY". The Associated Press. 2009. Archived from the original on October 16, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
↑ "With arrest, memories of hijacking ordeal flood back". The Associated Press. 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
↑ "Hijacker of Pan American Flight 281 Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court". FBI. 2010. Archived from the original on March 22, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2010.
↑ "US man given 15 years for 1968 Cuba hijack". BBC News. January 4, 2011.

[1] "15-Year Sentence for 1968 Hijacking". The New York Times. 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2013.

[cnn_hijacker_arrested-2] "Suspect in 1968 hijacking at JFK is captured". CNN.com. October 12, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2009.

[ap_hijacker_arrested-3] "Man arrested in '68 hijacking of flight from NY". The Associated Press. 2009. Archived from the original on October 16, 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2009.

[pilot_memories-4] "With arrest, memories of hijacking ordeal flood back". The Associated Press. 2009. Retrieved October 14, 2009.

[FBI_press_release:_Hijacker_of_Pan_American_Flight_281_Pleads_Guilty_in_Manhattan_Federal_Court-5] "Hijacker of Pan American Flight 281 Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court". FBI. 2010. Archived from the original on March 22, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2010.

[6] "US man given 15 years for 1968 Cuba hijack". BBC News. January 4, 2011.

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Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1960s
1960	National Airlines Flight 2511 (January 6) Capital Airlines Flight 20 (January 18) Northwest Airlines Flight 710 (March) Chicago Helicopter Airways Flight 698 (July) World Airways Flight 830 (September)* Eastern Air Lines Flight 375 (October 4) Cal Poly football team (October 29) New York mid-air collision (December)
1961	Aeronaves de México Flight 401 (January 19) Goldsboro B-52 crash (January 24) American Airlines Flight 1502 (January 28) Yuba City B-52 crash (March) United Air Lines Flight 859 (July 11) Alaska Airlines Flight 779 (July 21) TWA Flight 529 (September 1) Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 (September 17) Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8 (November 8)
1962	American Airlines Flight 1 (March) Continental Airlines Flight 11 (May) Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 301 (July) United Air Lines Flight 297 (November 23) Eastern Air Lines Flight 512 (November 30)
1963	Elephant Mountain B-52 (January) Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 (February) Camden PA-24 (March) Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 293 (June) Mohawk Airlines Flight 112 (July) Pan Am Flight 214 (December)
1964	Savage Mountain B-52 crash (January) Eastern Air Lines Flight 304 (February) Paradise Airlines Flight 901A (March) Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 (May) United Air Lines Flight 823 (July) Bonanza Air Lines Flight 114 (November) Flying Tiger Line Flight 282 (December)
1965	USAF KC-135 Wichita (January) Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 (February) Pan Am Flight 843 (June) Continental Airlines Flight 12 (July 1) Allegheny Airlines Flight 604 (July 23) United Air Lines Flight 389 (August) American Airlines Flight 383 (November 8) United Air Lines Flight 227 (November 11) Carmel mid-air collision (December) Japan Air Lines Flight 813 (December)
1966	NASA T-38 crash (February) American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D (April) Braniff International Airways Flight 250 (August) West Coast Airlines Flight 956 (October)
1967	Lake Central Airlines Flight 527 (March 5) TWA Flight 553 (March 9) West Coast Airlines Flight 720 (March 10) Delta Air Lines Flight 9877 (March 30) Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 (June) Piedmont Airlines Flight 22 (July) Lake Erie skydiving disaster (August) TWA Flight 159 (November 6) X-15 Flight 3-65-97 (November 15) TWA Flight 128 (November 20)
1968	Ozark Air Lines Flight 965 (March) Braniff International Airways Flight 352 (May 3) Los Angeles Airways Flight 841 (May 22) Piedmont Airlines Flight 230 (August 10) Los Angeles Airways Flight 417 (August 14) Northeast Airlines Flight 946 (October) Japan Air Lines Flight 2 (November 22) Pan Am Flight 281 (November 24) Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55 (December 2) Allegheny Airlines Flight 736 (December 24) Pan Am Flight 799 (December 26) Ozark Air Lines Flight 982 (December 27) North Central Airlines Flight 458 (December 27)
1969	Allegheny Airlines Flight 737 (January 6) Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 933 (January 13) United Air Lines Flight 266 (January 18) Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 (February) Prinair Flight 277 (March 5)* Delta Air Lines Flight 821 (March 25) Dominicana de Aviación Flight 401 (June) TWA Flight 5787 (July) Newton Cessna 172 crash (August) Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 (September) Mohawk Airlines Flight 411 (November)
This list is incomplete. An asterisk (*) denotes an incident that took place in a U.S. territory.