Show Notes Episode 302: “Fly the Friendly Skyjackers Part 1: The Golden Years”

This week Host Dave Bledsoe gets hammered on Cuba Libres and demands a Cuban Sandwich! (Only to pass out before DoorDash arrives) On the show this week we head back to the heyday of airline travel, when the seats were roomy and a lot of your flights unexpectedly arrived in Havana!

Along the way we discover how astonishingly bad Dave was (and probably IS) at geography. From there we dive right into stories of desperados commandeering planes for the Communist Paradise of Cuba only to discover they were not wanted there. Then we learn the tale of a Hunky Marine who became an Italian folk hero because everyone hated America being in Vietnam. (Which was actually fair!) Then we learn how one particular skyjacking ended the Golden Years of American Skyjacking! (Threaten to crash into ONE nuclear reactor and everyone goes nuts!) This is part one of a series, next week we cover the Most Famous Skyjacker of All! (That will show Santa for fucking with Herbie and Rudolf!)

Our Sponsor this week is Unexpected Destinations, got fifty bucks, we will fly you...somewhere. We open the show with a man who just wants to get to Luton and close with Lee Flier looking back on better times. 

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Closing Music: https://youtu.be/WC7APR-Gn3o

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Citations Needed:

"U.S. Plane Seized, Flown To Havana"

https://www.encyclopedia.com/politics/energy-government-and-defense-magazines/us-plane-seized-flown-havana

The strangest stories from the golden age of plane hijacking

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travel-truths/golden-age-of-hijacking/

Travel: What to Do When The Hijacker Comes

http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,844656,00.html

This Heartthrob Marine Became an Italian Folk Hero For Hijacking a Plane

https://historycollection.com/this-heartthrob-marine-became-an-italian-folk-hero-because-of-an-airplane-hijacking/2/

How Hijackers Commandeered Over 130 American Planes — In 5 Years

https://www.wired.com/2013/06/love-and-terror-in-the-golden-age-of-hijacking/

Ex-Detroiter behind infamous 1972 skyjacking tells his story

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2016/06/06/detroit-skyjacker-airplane-explanation/85314438/

Uncited Additional Reading:

https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/02/us/us-airline-hijackings-1970s-declassified/index.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48069272

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/skyjacking/

https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/article/the-strange-story-of-the-first-ever-plane-hijack

https://www.vox.com/2016/3/29/11326472/hijacking-airplanes-egyptair

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_hijackings

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/after-egyptair-four-hijackings-that-shook-israel-1.5424289

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