Incident Date:
October 18, 1971
Incident Successful: Yes
Location: Anchorage United States
Perpetrators: Del Lavon Thomas
Event Type: Hijacking
Weapon Type(s): Firearms (Handgun)
Organization Type:
Suicide Attack: No
Hoax: No
Violent Extremism:
Doubt Terror: No
Target Information
1- Airports & Aircraft(Aircraft (not at an airport))
Canadian Target: No
Canadian Victim: No
Canadian Perpetrator:
By foreigners against foreign target(s) in Canada:
Victims: 0 fatalities, 0 injuries
Perpetrators: 1 involved, 0 fatalities, 0 injuries
Description: "10/18/1971: Wein Consolidated Salta flight 15, a B737 flying from Anchorage to Bethel, Alaska, with 35 persons on board, was hijacked by a man, armed with a pistol, who threatened the stewardess and wanted to be taken to Cuba. He was identified as a white male who met the Federal Aviation Administration profile and who had served a prison sentence for manslaughter: Del Lavon Thomas, born on December 29, 1942, in Hawthorne, California. He allowed the plane to land in Anchorage to permit the passengers to leave. He flew on to Vancouver for refueling and then demanded to fly to Mexico City. However, an hour out of Vancouver, he ordered the plane to turn back. Upon landing, an RCMP police inspector boarded the plane. One hour later, the crew was allowed to leave, and Thomas surrendered to the RCMP. He was deported to the United States on 10/19/1971, and sentenced on 05/12/1972, to twenty years for air piracy. "
References: 1) "Mickolus, Edward F. (1980). Trasnational Terrorism: Chronology of Events, 1968-1979. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. p. 283-284."
Attached Files: