The frightening events aboard a recent Flydubai flight in the Middle East brought back memories of an experience I had more than half a century ago — one that began as an ordinary airline flight and ended with a hijacker dead on the tarmac in Saigon.
asserted
that → bring → Saigon
On July 2, 1972, I was returning to Vietnam for my second combat tour.
asserted
I → return → tour
I was a Marine captain traveling on orders to fly as an aerial observer in support of friendly ground forces fighting five reinforced North Vietnamese divisions.
asserted
I → travel → divisions
I eventually flew 190 combat missions in 184 days, primarily with the Vietnamese Air Force during the North Vietnamese Easter Offensive.
asserted
I → fly → Offensive
But before I could get back into the war, I first had to survive the trip there.
uncertain
I → get → trip
By happenstance, I was aboard Pan Am Flight 841, a Boeing 747 bound for Saigon.
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I → bind → Saigon
Among the passengers was Nguyen Thai Binh, a 24-year-old South Vietnamese student who had recently graduated from the University of Washington.
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who → graduate → Washington
Over the South China Sea, Binh revealed his intentions: He wanted the aircraft diverted to Hanoi.
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aircraft → reveal → Hanoi
He passed a note through a flight attendant to pilot Eugene Vaughn, threatening to destroy the aircraft if his demand was not met.
asserted
demand → pass → aircraft
When Vaughn refused, Binh sent another message written partly in his own blood to demonstrate his seriousness.
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Binh → refuse → seriousness
Then he produced what appeared to be a bomb — a large ball wrapped in aluminum foil.
asserted
what → produce → foil
Binh also took a woman and her young daughter hostage.
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Binh → take → hostage
A courageous flight attendant volunteered to exchange places with them.
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attendant → volunteer → them
I was seated in the same section and could see that something was badly wrong.
uncertain
something → seat → section
Wearing my Marine summer service uniform and speaking Vietnamese, I offered to help communicate with the hijacker.
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I → wear → hijacker
After consulting Vaughn, a crew member told me not to intervene.
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member → consult → me
Vaughn had his own plan.
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Vaughn → have → plan
As we entered South Vietnamese airspace, he descended the 747 to about 4,000 feet and began jinking the aircraft, ostensibly to avoid North Vietnamese surface-to-air missiles.
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he → enter → missiles
In reality, he was disorienting Binh while positioning the aircraft for a surprise landing at Tan Son Nhat Airport.
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he → disorient → Airport
Binh continued threatening to detonate his supposed bomb unless the aircraft immediately departed for Hanoi.
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aircraft → threaten → Hanoi
Unknown to most passengers, a retired San Francisco police officer aboard the aircraft had checked a .357 Magnum revolver with the captain before departure.
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officer → check → departure
Vaughn had earlier told him to be prepared to act.
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Vaughn → tell → him
Vaughn approached Binh, grabbed him, and wrestled him into the aisle.
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Vaughn → approach → aisle
After Binh cut Vaughn with a knife, the retired police officer fired five times.
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officer → cut → knife
When I saw the struggle, I immediately moved down the aisle to assist and arrived just as the shots were fired.
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shots → see → aisle
Then, the foil-wrapped object, the supposed bomb, came into play.
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object → wrap → play
I grabbed it and pivoted around to throw it toward another passenger near an emergency exit.
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I → grab → exit
He caught it and hurled it out of the aircraft.
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He → catch → aircraft
Only later did we discover what was inside: lemons.
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what → discover → ?
The entire hijacking had been conducted with a bluff.
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hijacking → conduct → bluff
We evacuated using the emergency slides.
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We → evacuate → slides
As I descended mine, the jet wash blew my Marine cover off my head.
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wash → descend → head
I found myself chasing it across the runway before recovering it in the grass — a strangely mundane ending to an extraordinary event.
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myself → find → event
After investigators briefly questioned me, I found Vaughn and shook his hand.
“I wasn’t particularly thrilled about a trip to Hanoi anyway,” I told him, “especially since I was in Marine summer service uniform.”
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I → question → uniform
We both laughed.
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We → laugh → ?
Within hours, I was flying north to join the fighting.
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I → fly → fighting
Fifty-four years later, reports of another violent crisis aboard a commercial aircraft in the Middle East demonstrate how much aviation security has changed — and how certain fundamentals have not.
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fundamentals → demonstrate → East
Modern aircraft have reinforced cockpit doors.
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aircraft → reinforce → doors
Intelligence sharing has improved.
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sharing → improve → ?
Crews train for situations that received far less attention when I boarded that Pan Am 747 in 1972.
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I → train → 1972
…and 20 more, not listed.
The Aporia
