Southern Airways Flight 49
N94S, the aircraft involved in the hijacking, pictured 1987 in-service with Northwest Airlines. | |
| Hijacking | |
|---|---|
| Date | November 10–12, 1972 |
| Summary | Hijacking |
| Site |
|
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-9-15 |
| Operator | Southern Airways |
| IATA flight No. | SO49 |
| ICAO flight No. | SOU49 |
| Call sign | SOUTHERN 49 |
| Registration | N94S |
| Flight origin | Memphis, Tennessee |
| Stopover | Birmingham, Alabama |
| 2nd stopover | Montgomery, Alabama |
| Last stopover | Orlando, Florida |
| Destination | Miami, Florida |
| Occupants | 38 (including 3 hijackers) |
| Passengers | 34 (including 3 hijackers) |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | 1 |
| Survivors | 38 (including 3 hijackers) |
The hijacking of Southern Airways Flight 49 started on November 10, 1972, in Birmingham, Alabama, stretching over 30 hours, three countries, and 4,000 miles (6,400 km), not ending until the next evening in Havana, Cuba. Three men, Melvin Cale, Louis Moore, and Henry D. Jackson Jr., successfully hijacked a Southern Airways Douglas DC-9 that was scheduled to fly from Memphis, Tennessee, to Miami, Florida, via Birmingham and Montgomery, Alabama, and Orlando, Florida. The three were each facing criminal charges for unrelated incidents. Thirty-five people, including thirty-one passengers and four crew members, were aboard the airplane when it was hijacked. The hijackers' threat to crash the aircraft into a nuclear reactor led directly to the requirement that U.S. airline passengers be physically screened, beginning January 5, 1973.