Uli Derickson

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ulrike Derickson (born August 8, 1944 in Aussig , Sudetenland ; † February 18, 2005 in Tucson , Arizona ; née Patzelt ) was a German-American flight attendant . During the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 on June 14, 1985 by terrorists close to Hezbollah , it contributed significantly to the de-escalation .

Career

Ulrike Patzelt was born in the Sudetenland in 1944 and expelled to the Soviet occupation zone with her parents in 1945 . The family later fled from the GDR to the Federal Republic . Patzelt worked as an au pair in Great Britain and Switzerland and emigrated to the United States in 1967 , where she became a flight attendant at TWA a few years later . She married the pilot Russell G. Derickson.

On June 14, 1985 Derickson was employed as chief stewardess on TWA flight 847 from Athens to Rome . During that flight, the plane was hijacked to Beirut . The two kidnappers spoke almost no English , but Derickson was able to communicate with one of them in German and thus gained their trust. This put her at the center of the drama for the next 55 hours as she acted as interpreter for almost all communications on board. At one point, one of the two kidnappers proposed marriage to her. The plane first landed in Beirut, where Derickson successfully persuaded the hijackers to release 17 elderly women and two children. After two flights from Beirut to Algiers , Derickson used her own credit card to pay for the aviation fuel after the ground crew refused to refuel the machine without payment, despite the terrorists threatening to kill passengers. Your card was charged a total of around $ 11,000. At the direction of the kidnappers, Derickson collected the passports of all passengers, by means of which Jews should be identified among them. Contrary first in Israeli media widely reported that it had supported the hijackers in the separation of Jewish names - which a parallel to the " selection " to ermordender Jews in the death camps of the Holocaust was made - but later clarified that it rejected those it demanded identification and instead had saved numerous passengers from segregation. Derickson was released on June 15, 1985 with a group of 65 hostages in Algiers.

After the end of the hostage drama, Derickson was exposed to hostility from various interest groups. Unsubstantiated reports, some in the main news media, falsely alleged that she had disclosed the names of Jewish passengers to the kidnappers, leading to threats from extremist groups. When the truth of her accomplishments to protect passengers emerged, she became the target of threats from the other side. Derickson's family moved from New Jersey to Arizona .

Derickson later served as a consultant to TWA, Delta Air Lines and the FBI on crisis management. She testified as a witness at the trial of Mohammed Ali Hamadi , one of the kidnappers accused of the murder of Robert Stethem. He received a life sentence.

Derickson was still working as a flight attendant, now for Delta Air Lines , when she was diagnosed with cancer in August 2003 . She died on February 18, 2005 at the age of 60. She had a son and was survived by her mother living in Germany.

Honors

Film adaptations

A television film from 1988, The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story (German: 847 - Flug des Schreckens ) was initially broadcast by the American broadcaster NBC , and in 1991 the German dubbed version was first broadcast on Pro Sieben . In the film, Uli Derickson was played by Lindsay Wagner . The film, on which Derickson was an adviser, received five Emmy nominations.

The 1986 action film Delta Force also features a flight attendant (played by Hanna Schygulla ) based on Derickson.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Jennifer Bayot: Uli Derickson, 60, Flight Attendant Who Helped Airline Hostages, Dies, in: New York Times of February 24, 2005, accessed on August 3, 2014 (English)
  2. ↑ TWA Purser Paid Fuel Tab For Hijacked Flight With Credit Card, Associated Press report , July 15, 1985, accessed August 3, 2014
  3. ↑ Israelis Upset By Reports Of Separation Of Jewish Passengers, Associated Press report , June 19, 1985, accessed August 3, 2014
  4. ↑ Twa, Government Reassures Jewish Leaders Flight Crew Did Not Help Hijackers Single out Passengers, message from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency dated June 20, 1985, accessed on August 3, 2014 (English)
  5. ↑ Hero Of Twa Hijacking Wins Medal: Derickson Forgives Those Who Said She Aided Terrorists, in: Orlando Sentinel, October 5, 1985, accessed on August 3, 2014
  6. ↑ History ( Memento of the original from October 11, 2002) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.legionofvalor.comon the website of the Legion of Valor, accessed on August 3, 2014 (English)
  7. ↑ 847 - Flug des Schreckens, Kabel 1 Filmlexikon, accessed on August 3, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Derickson, Uli
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Patzelt, Ulrike
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American flight attendant
DATE OF BIRTH August 8, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH Aussig, Sudetenland
DATE OF DEATH February 18, 2005
Place of death Tucson , Arizona