The Netflix series The Hijacking of Flight 601, directed by Pablo Gonzalez and C.S. Prince, is inspired by the true story of the hijacking of SAM Colombia Flight HK-1274 on May 30, 1973. Two Paraguayan soccer players on board held 84 passengers aboard at gunpoint, claiming to be members of a guerrilla group known as the National Liberation Army and demanding the release of political prisoners and 200,000 dollars ransom.
The hijacked plane took off from Bogota and landed in many places, picking up passengers and releasing others in a hijacking that lasted for sixty hours, flying over six Latin American countries and covering over 22,750 kilometres, making it the longest hijacking in Latin American history.
What happened during the hijacking?
When the flight took off in Bogota, the Captain was Jorge Lucena, and the co-pilot was Pedro Garcia. The plane stopped in Pereira, where more passengers boarded. The hijacking occurred a few minutes after take-off, and it diverted to Medellin for refuelling before heading to Princess Beatrix Airport in Aruba, where the hijackers started negotiating with the SAM company.
The negotiator was a lawyer, Ignacio Mustafa, and in the process, the hijackers released some 40 passengers, including women and children. The plane stayed at Aruba airport for more than 10 hours. The heat was unbearable, the plane was stuffy, and they ran out of food and water. The matter was made worse by the government announcement that they would not negotiate since there were no political prisoners in Colombia. Therefore, the hijackers ordered Captain Lucena to take off and head to Lima, Peru.
However, the plane faced technical difficulties, and the Captain negotiated with the hijackers, who allowed him to head back to Aruba. There were cyclists in the plane whose race was about to begin in Medellin, so their Captain took the risk of talking to one of the hijackers about letting them off the plane.
Surprisingly, the hijacker recognised the Captain of the cycling team and let the cyclists and a couple of other passengers leave the plane. At the same time, some other passengers opened the emergency door and jumped off the plane. When the hijackers realised the emergency door was open, they ordered the Captain to take off, and this time, they flew over Panama, Costa Rica, to El Salvador but were not allowed to land in any of the airports. Therefore, the plane returned to Aruba for the third time.
How did the flight attendants end up on the hijacked plane?
After the plane landed in Aruba for the third time, the government ordered a change in the flight crew since it was dangerous to keep taking off with exhausted pilots and crews. SAM offered to give the hijackers 50,000 in exchange for agreeing to change the crew. That is when the manager started asking around to find flight attendants willing to enter the hijacked plane, but nobody was willing to risk their lives.
However, Edilma Perez, 32 years old and a mother of five, volunteered to join Captain Hugo Molina and Co-pilot Pedro Ramirez. Edilma felt a sense of gratitude towards the SAM Company since it had given her a chance to work as a flight attendant in an era where flight attendants were only hired if they were single and without children. She also suggested that the manager ask her friend, Maria Eugenia Gallo, a 23-year-old flight attendant with an adventurous spirit, and her best friend to join them. Edilma knew that Maria would not turn down the opportunity to go on a dangerous adventure.
Therefore, the hijackers released the crew and more passengers, and the plane took off, making stops in Guayaquil, where the hijackers demanded food, newspapers, and fuel. After taking off, the hijackers gave the new destination Antofagasta in Chile, but the plane was too big for the runway. After discussing with the Captain, the hijackers agreed to head for Lima.
According to the crew and the passengers still on board, the hijackers had not slept for two days and were starting to become violent and aggressive. Therefore, the crew made conversation with them to cool them down. At Lima, they asked for more drinks and food and allowed the flight attendants to clean the stuffy plane, especially because of the 300 chicks that were dead in the cargo hold and released more passengers.
After take-off, the plane headed towards Mendoza, Argentina. When it landed, the hijackers ordered the pilot to keep the engine running as they lowered the steps and released the last passengers on board. When it took off, only the flight attendants and the pilots were on board.
How did the hijackers escape?
Before the communications were cut off at Mendoza, the Captain said the plane was heading towards Buenos Aires. There was no more communication from the plane for ransom or the release of the prisoners. The police and the media camped in Buenos Aires, waiting for the plane, but it never appeared. Some media news reported the plane landing at Resistencia, asking for oil but taking off after a few minutes, while another citing was reported in Asuncion, where the plane stayed for a few minutes and then took off.
When the plane landed at Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires, only Captain Molina, Co-pilot Ramirez, and flight attendants Edilma and Maria got off. The army stormed the plane, looking for the kidnappers, but there was nobody else inside. The crew was taken in for questioning, and they explained how the hijackers had escaped.
The hijackers had told the Captain that they would get off one at Resistencia and another at Asuncion and were planning to take Edilma and Maria as hostages to make sure that the pilots would not disclose their whereabouts until they managed to escape. However, the Co-pilot strongly opposed their plan and insisted that they could only take him as a hostage and not the flight attendants.
Therefore, Captain Molino suggested a gentleman’s agreement, where they made a pact not to notify over the radio where the hijackers got off and not cooperate with the investigation until they got to Ezeiza. They gave the hijackers their family addresses as a promise to keep their end of the deal and provide them with enough time to disappear.
As agreed, Captain Molino used a distracting manoeuvre in Asuncion and Resistencia, asking the tower to turn off the runway lights, not stopping the plane after landing, circling around to a blind spot, and allowing the hijackers to jump off. Minutes later, the plane took off and finally landed in Buenos Aires.
What happened to the crew?
According to the report by the researcher Massimo Di Ricco, whose findings the series are based on, Maria Eugenia Gallo is now in her seventies and is living a quiet, private life in Colombia. She remained friends with Edilma, and they were interviewed together for the series.
However, Captain Jorge Lucena died in 2010, while Captain Hugo Molina and Co-pilot Pedro Ramirez died in a plane crash near Medellin airport ten years after the hijacking. Little is known about the co-pilot Pedro Garcia after he escaped unharmed from the ordeal.