ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 333524
| Date: | Thursday 3 August 1961 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Boeing 707-124 |
| Owner/operator: | Continental Air Lines |
| Registration: | N70775 |
| MSN: | 17611/49 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1959 |
| Engine model: | Pratt & Whitney JT3C-6 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 73 |
| Aircraft damage: | Minor, repaired |
| Category: | UI |
| Location: | El Paso International Airport, TX (ELP) -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Phoenix (unknown airport), AZ |
| El Paso International Airport, TX (ELP/KELP) |
Continental Air Lines flight 54 was a service from Los Angeles, California, to Houston, Texas. En route stops were planned at Phoenix, Arizona and El Paso, Texas.
During the stop over at Phoenix a 38-year-old man and his 16-year-old son boarded the flight. Twenty minutes before landing at El Paso, at about 03:58 hours, both men entered the cockpit and hijacked the aircraft. The aircraft landed at El Paso and all but four volunteer hostages and six crew were allowed to get off.
The hijackers demanded the plane to be refueled for departure at 07:30 or the pilots would get shot. When the aircraft began to taxy for departure, a border patrol car sped alongside and fired at the tires. Bullets also struck the no.1 and 2 engines. At 12:55 the back door was opened and two stewardesses and three passengers were allowed to deplane. Two minutes later the remaining hostages, except for one, left the plane through the front door. During a conversation with an FBI agent, the hostage was able to overpower the 38-year-old hijacker. The FBI agent then overpowered the son.
The airplane involved in the hijack was involved in a fatal accident on May 22, 1962 when it crashed near Unionville, MO, USA, following the detonation of a bomb.
Sources:
St. Petersburg Times - Aug 4, 1961
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 22 May 1962 | N70775 | Continental Air Lines | 45 | 10 km NNW of Unionville, MO | |
w/o |
Revision history:
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