TWA Flight 355

Trans World Airlines Flight 355 was a domestic Trans World Airlines flight that was hijacked on September 10, 1976, by five "Fighters for Free Croatia", a group seeking Croatian independence from Yugoslavia.

Hijacking

The Boeing 727 plane took off from New York's LaGuardia Airport and was headed to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. The hijackers were Slobodan Vlašić, Zvonko Bušić, his wife Julienne Bušić, Petar Matanić, and Frane Pešut. The hijackers claimed to have a bomb with them as they seized control of the plane in the 95th minute of its flight.

The group redirected the plane to Montreal's Mirabel International Airport where they refueled and told officials that they had planted a bomb in a locker at Grand Central Terminal and gave them instructions on finding it. They demanded that an appeal to the American people concerning Croatia's independence be printed in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and the International Herald Tribune. The plane was then flown to Gander, Newfoundland, where 35 of its passengers were released. Air Traffic Control manager, Thomas Scott, was directly involved in negotiations with the hijackers and these talks led to the release of the 35 passengers. For his efforts, Scott was presented with an award of merit from Transport Canada.

From there the plane was accompanied by a larger TWA plane that guided it to Keflavík, Iceland. The hijackers' initial European destination was London, but the British government refused them permission to land.

During the hijacking the device at Grand Central Terminal was found and taken to Rodman's Neck Firing Range where police attempted to dismantle it rather than detonate it. After setting a cutting instrument on the two wires attached to the device, the officers retreated from the pit for several minutes. When they returned to the pit to continue dismantling the device, it exploded and killed NYPD officer Brian Murray, and wounded another, Terrence McTigue.

The plane landed in Paris where the hijackers surrendered after direct talks with U.S. ambassador Kenneth Rush, and their supposedly explosive devices were revealed to be fakes, simple pressure cookers. As the police took Julienne Bušić away, the plane's pilot gave her a hug in gratitude for her calming of the passengers during the hijacking.