HIJACKING
The seizure of a commercial vehicle—airplane,
ship, or truck—by force or threat of force.
Hijacking is the modern term for “piracy.” It
is derived from the phrase “High, Jack!” which
is a command to raise one’s hands before being
robbed. The word gained popular currency
during PROHIBITION (1920–33), when bootleg-
gers commandeered truckloads of liquor from
each other, and reappeared when political
activists began to seize commercial airplanes in
the 1960s.
Airplane Hijacking
The first U.S. airplane hijacking occurred in
1961. The number of such incidents, also known
as skyjackings or air piracies, grew during the
1960s, with 40 attempts made in 1969. Many of
the early hijacking incidents involved persons
seeking to divert airplanes to Cuba, where they
could gain ASYLUM. These hijackings became so
numerous that the phrase “Take me to Havana”
entered popular culture.
In 1973, the United States and Cuba were
able to reach an agreement that allows either
country to request the EXTRADITION of a
hijacker. The agreement came about through an
exchange of diplomatic notes. It was in Cuba’s
interest to make the agreement because many
Cubans had hijacked planes from Cuba and
forced them to fly to the United States. The
agreement allows either country to take into
account extenuating circumstances when the
hijackers acted “for strictly political reasons and
were in real and imminent danger of death with-
out a viable alternative, provided there was no
financial EXTORTION or physical injury” to crew,
passengers, or other persons (12 I.L.M. 370–76,
