Trans-World Airlines Flight 541
TWA Flight 541 was a domestic passenger flight in the United States. The plane was hijacked by Robin Oswald in an attempt to free Garrett Brock Trapnell from the United States Penitentiary Marion maximum security prison . The kidnapping was successfully ended by an FBI negotiating team. All passengers were freed, the hijacker could be forced to give up.
background
On January 29, 1972, Garrett B. Trapnell hijacked a TWA flight from Los Angeles to New York. He demanded $ 306,800 (about $ 1,735,600 adjusted for inflation in 2016), the release of civil rights activist Angela Davis, and an interview with President Nixon . The kidnapping was ended by disarming Trapnell. He was previously shot by an FBI agent. The agent pretended to be negotiating.
On May 24, 1978, Trapnell's 43-year-old friend Barbara Ann Oswald, a US Army Staff Sergeant on vacation, hijacked a helicopter stationed in Saint Louis and forced the pilot to land on the grounds of the United States Penitentiary Marion Prison. During the landing, the pilot Allen Barklage, a Vietnam veteran, fought with Oswald and snatched the pistol from her. He then shot Oswald and thus prevented Trapnell's escape.
incident
On December 21, 1978, Robin Oswald, the 17-year-old daughter of Barbara Annette Oswald, hijacked TWA Flight 541 and demanded the release of Trapnell. Otherwise she would blow herself up with dynamite attached to her body. She was perceived by the hostages on board as a pretty but serious girl. She would have shown no signs of her planned action.
FBI negotiators were able to free the prisoners and force Oswald to surrender. There were neither injured nor dead. As it turned out later, the bomb attached to Oswald's chest consisted of flares wired to a doorbell. Robin Oswald was treated under juvenile law. The judgment was not published by law in Illinois.
Aftermath
Garrett B. Trapnell died in 1993 in prison on an emphysema .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Plane Hijacked. Front page. St. Joseph News-Press (News-Press & Gazette Company), December 21, 1978, accessed June 10, 2016 .
- ↑ a b c Killen, Andreas: The First Hijackers. The New York Times, January 16, 2005, accessed June 10, 2016 .
- ↑ Passenger - 'Beautiful Girl' was serious. Page 1. Lakeland Ledger (Lakeland, Florida: The New York Times Company), December 22, 1978, accessed June 10, 2016 .
- ↑ 17-Year-Old Hijacks To Free Hijackers. Page 11. Kentucky New Era, December 22, 1978, accessed June 10, 2016 .