Havana-Bound

An epidemic of skyjackings

It seems a throwback to the air piracy of the late 1960s, when skyjackings steered dozens of planes to Cuba. The motive now, as it often was then, is homesickness. Last week six commercial U.S. airliners were hijacked and forced to fly to Havana, apparently by Cuban refugees who had come to the U.S. on the recent Freedom Flotilla. First, a Key Westbound Air Florida 737 with 33 people aboard was commandeered by a Spanish-speaking man wielding a "bomb" that turned out to be a box containing a bar of soap. Next, another Air Florida 737, headed from Key West to Miami with 74 aboard, was seized by seven passengers who threatened to ignite a bottle of gasoline. Then, a National Airlines DC-10 bound for Puerto Rico was forced to Havana by two Spanish-speaking men who also threatened to set the plane on fire.

On Saturday alone, three planes were forcibly detoured to Cuba: an Eastern Air Lines 727 en route to Orlando; a Republic Air Lines DC-9 headed from Miami to Orlando; and a Delta Air Lines widebody L-1011, flying from Puerto Rico to Los Angeles with 165 aboard. In the first three cases, the passengers were unharmed and the planes were allowed to return to the U.S.; the fate of passengers and planes in the last three was unresolved at week's end. The second seizure provided a clue to the common motivation, after a would-be member of the hijack gang was arrested at Key West and explained how they felt. "They were very despondent," said FBI Agent Bill Hayes, "mostly because they missed their families."

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