Texas’ Dark History: Exploring The Plane Hijackings Of The Past

Texas, believe it or not, was the home of the very first plane hijacking in the United States. Even though there are some very famous cases of plane hijacking in history, there have been some infamous cases of hijackings right here in the Lone Star State.

Continental Airlines Flight 54

Yes the first time a plane was hijacked in Texas was back in 1961 on August 3. Continental Airlines Flight 54 was en route from Los Angles to Houston when 2 men entered the cockpit and hijacked the plane before landing in El Paso, Texas. While the plane was being refilled, a US Border Patrol agent, Agent Leonard Gilman, volunteered to be a hostage and was able to take down both men. Leon and Cody Bearden & were arrested shortly afterwards.

You can even seen archived newspaper clippings of the incident here.

Braniff Flight 38

On January 12, 1972, an ex-Vietnam vet, Billy Gene Hurst Jr hijacked Braniff Flight 38 while heading to Dallas. When the plane landed, all the passengers were allowed to leave, but the crew were forced to stay. After a 6 hour standoff with police, Billy was arrested when police stormed the plane. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

You can even see what the plane looked like in the 70s thanks to this Twitter post from Airline History.

America West Flight 727

The last hijacking on this list occurred on January 16, 1990. America West Flight 77 was hijacked leaving Houston to Las Vegas by Jose Manuel Gonzalez. He claimed to have an explosive on board so the flight was diverted to Austin. Police stormed the plane and arrested him. His "bomb" was a toothpaste contained tied to a flashlight. He served 20 years in prison.

Another hijacking that is associated with Texas is Eastern Air Lines Flight 202 on July 24, 1961; originally headed from Miami to Dallas. a hijacker took the plane to Havana, Cuba where he was promptly arrested.

Thankfully no one was killed in ANY of these hijackings; but if you're curious on what the worst plane crashes were in Texas history, you can see a list of the 5 worst here.

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