The first time I jotted down the idea for the book. This was basically all I knew.

The first time I jotted down the idea for the book. This was basically all I knew.

read more

Roger Holder’s bespectacled face peeks out from behind First Officer Donald Thompson. The photo was snapped surreptitiously by Flight Engineer Richard Luker.

read more

A seating chart for the hijacked flight, as recounted by a passenger to the FBI.

read more

Cathy Kerkow’s ticket to Hawaii. Her real intended destination was Australia, by way of North Vietnam.

read more

The check that Cathy Kerkow bounced while attempting to pay for the hijackers’ plane tickets.

read more

The contents of the suitcase that Cathy Kerkow packed for the hijacking.

read more

From a June 3, 1972, FBI interview with Roger Holder’s parents.

read more

A rogue’s gallery of skyjackers who failed, from LIFE’s year-end issue for 1972.

read more

A formula used to determine the relative contagiousness of skyjackings.

read more

A formula used to calculate the probability that two planes would be hijacked on the same day.

read more

At the height of the epidemic, pilots were equipped with special phrase books so they could communicate with Spanish-speaking hijackers.

read more

An op-ed published right after Arthur Gates Barkley famously demanded a $100 million ransom.

read more

An anti-marijuana propaganda cartoon from an Army unit newsletter. Roger Holder spent 29 days at the notorious Long Binh Jail for smoking a joint in Saigon.

An anti-marijuana propaganda cartoon from an Army unit newsletter. Roger Holder spent 29 days at the notorious Long Binh Jail for smoking a joint in Saigon.

read more

Captain Jerome Juergens copy of the Air Line Pilot issue dedicated to the great skyjacking outbreak of 1972.

Captain Jerome Juergens copy of the Air Line Pilot issue dedicated to the great skyjacking outbreak of 1972.

read more

A newspaper editorial about the beating of Roger Holder¹s younger brother at a Coos Bay elementary school.

The newspaper editorial about the beating of Roger Holder’s younger brother at a Coos Bay elementary school.

read more