On April 7, 1994,
Federal Express Flight 705, a
McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 cargo jet carrying electronics across the
United States from
Memphis, Tennessee to
San Jose, California, experienced an attempted
hijacking for the purpose of a
suicide attack.
Auburn Calloway, a Federal Express employee facing possible dismissal for lying about his reported flight hours, boarded the scheduled flight as a
deadheading passenger with a guitar case carrying several hammers and a
speargun. He intended to disable the aircraft's
cockpit voice recorder before take-off and, once airborne, kill the crew with hammers so their injuries would appear consistent with an accident rather than a hijacking. The speargun would be a last resort. He would then crash the aircraft while just appearing to be an employee killed in an accident.
This would make his family eligible for a $2.5 million
life insurance policy paid by
Federal Express.[SUP]
[1][/SUP]
Calloway's plan was unsuccessful. Despite severe injuries, the crew was able to fight back, subdue Calloway and land the aircraft safely. An attempt at a mental health defense was unsuccessful and Calloway was subsequently convicted of multiple charges including attempted murder, attempted
air piracy and interference with flight crew operations. He received two consecutive life sentences
. As part of his plan to disguise the intended attack as an accident, Calloway attempted to disable the
cockpit voice recorder (CVR) by tripping its
circuit breaker. During standard pre-flight checks, Peterson noticed the tripped breaker and reset it before take-off so the CVR was reactivated
About twenty minutes after takeoff, as the flight crew carried on a casual conversation, Calloway entered the flight deck and commenced his attack. Every member of the crew took multiple hammer blows which fractured both Peterson's and Tucker's skulls, severing Peterson's
temporal artery.[SUP]
[2][/SUP]
. A lengthy struggle ensued with the flight engineer and captain as Tucker, also an ex-
Navy pilot, performed extreme aerial maneuvers with the aircraft.
The flight crew eventually succeeded in restraining Calloway, though only after moments of inverted and near-
transonic flight beyond the designed capabilities of a DC-10. Sanders took control and Tucker, who had by then lost use of the right side of his body, went back to assist Peterson in restraining Calloway.
Heavily loaded with fuel and cargo, the plane was approaching too fast and too high to land on the scheduled runway 9. Sanders requested by radio to land on the longer runway 36. Ignoring warning messages from the onboard computer and using a series of sharp turns that tested the DC-10's safety limits, Sanders landed the jet safely on the runway at well over its maximum designed landing weight. By that time, Calloway was once again restrained. Emergency personnel gained access to the plane via escape slide and ladder. Inside, they found the
cockpit interior covered in blood.[SUP]
[4][/SUP]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Express_Flight_705
