58November

I am looking to interview pilots for the book 58 November about my father's hijacking in 1971.
I am searching for who worked with their MEC and national unions from the late 60's-70's.
I am specifically interested in pilots who were part of any with with the ICAO Convention in the Hague in 1970.
if you worked on any committees that addressed hijacking safety and or procedures I would like your story.
I would like to hear the stories of people who had conflicts with either FAA, FBI, Airport Police and or their corporate management concerning these issues in the 60's and 70's

If you are one of these guys, or know someone who is, please contact me. I am trying to show how much work the pilots themselves put into these reg changes.

Now if you fall under this category for any time from the 70's to present I would like your perspectives as well.

This is an important piece about PIC authority in crisis situations. I really hope to hear from you all in the near future.
Any other positions where you had experience with these security topics would be great. If you saw something I'd like to hear it.

Unlike most books on aviation, you will really like the end product. But I do ask for your help

Andy Downs
Please email me [email protected]
website 58 November - Documentary Film :: 58 November
phone 615-474-0590 (Call anytime...having been in the business for decades, I get the strange hours. If I am up I will answer, if not I'll call you back.)

jungle

Andy, I hope one of the main points you cover is that the policy to go along with hijackers and not resist was the security weakness exploited which resulted in 9/11.

Dougdrvr

Great point, Jungle. I think back to all those times watching the security films (featuring National Airlines DC-8s) and how many times we laughed out loud at the pilot in one particular scenario that was made to look like a total buffoon for resisting.

USMCFLYR

Tactics change.
There was a time when not resisting was the proper tactic - like a calvary charge.
Not any more.

jungle

Most of the hijacking at the time of the rule change was done by fruitcakes wanting a trip to Cuba, in the 70's we saw the first instance of well organized groups which resulted in much loss of life and aircraft.

Times changed before the ink was really dry, and it turned out that the tactics were wrong right out of the gate and it took decades to fix, but not before thousands died.

Just as before, deranged individuals remain a greater daily threat than real terror attacks.

58November

I have found some of the old FAA security front line guys who tested the security checkpoints before the TSA started keeping everyone safe at airports, truck weigh stations, political rally, rodeos and county fairs.
Should have some good stuff on how the higher echelon re-wrote evaluations of security breaches to show how great they were.
Also some from today with TSA

58November

Interesting piece of history is not one fatality has ever occurred due to decision a captain has made during a hijacking. LEOs don't have that track record. That is a worldwide fact as well.

Another one is how the the Hague Convention of 1970 was pushed to the front of the agenda. TWA 840 was hijacked on Aug 29, 1969. On Aug 31st US State Department sent telegram asking ICAO for emergency meeting to discuss new protocols. They cited the TWA 840 as the reason. Up until that point the US had been dragging their feet.

58November

How is it the FAA not only worked the hijacking of 58November from BNA-JAX ; were defendants in the case, yest have no records indicating that my dad was not only hijacked, but shot to death in the plane?

Please see the letter I received from the FAA claiming no records exist on my dad's case.
Does anyone have any ideas as to why? Would anyone have a contact I could reach out to and try and get some answers?

I'm not sure if other can understand my position on this. It is like they have erased my dad's life and death out of the history books.
The FAA letter and other documents on the case are on this link. Also be aware there are crime scene pictures so don't open this around if you have kids in the room.

FBI Secret Memos on 58November - Imgur

[email protected] and please let me know your thoughts and ideas on where to go next.

It would mean a great deal to my family.
Andy Downs

JamesNoBrakes

Not to offend, but why would the FAA have records from that long ago? Where would such records be kept? It seems that this would not be very important for the FAA, but other organizations that deal with security like the FBI and TSA may have historical files on it? Just from my FAA perspective, I don't know why the FAA would have that information or where it would be kept if it even existed. Historical regulations and regulatory information are much more important to them. As you go back in accident/incident history it drops off very quickly after a certain year, as the data was just never captured , and that's for events that fall into those specific categories. The FOIA request just deals with information that they may actually have, just because something happened or did not doesn't mean they have the information supporting it, just due to normal circumstances through time. Hope that doesn't come off too harsh or anything, but if a certain agency does have that historical information, I suppose the trick is figuring out which one it is. There's likely more in newspaper archives I'd imagine?

58November

Well 1st, it is part of the FAA mandate to keep records of all incidents and accidents/ hijackings. That is part of their mission.

You can find other hijacking events on their website faa.gov

Next, the FAA was a defendant in the case. FAA personnel testified at the trial, gave depositions, etc. The DOT Secretary and FAA D director of Safety were also named.

This was the 1st hijacking in the US where a captain had been killed.

The records should be maintained in their archives.....everything they do gets stored there from since the agency was created.