in the cockpit for safekeeping during the flight. Vaughn landed at Saigon's Tan Son Nhut Airport under the pretext of needing to refuel the aircraft. After landing, Vaughn walked back to the cabin to speak with the hijacker again. Bình, highly agitated, threatened to detonate his bomb unless the aircraft immediately departed for Hanoi. Claiming to have trouble understanding Bình's speech, Vaughn encouraged Bình to lean closer. When he did so, Vaughn restrained Bình in a choke hold and he and two passengers knocked the package from Bình's hand and pinned him to the floor. Vaughn signalled Mills, who shot Bình five times, killing him. Vaughn then carried Bình's body to the rear exit of the aircraft and threw it onto the tarmac. The 135 surviving passengers and 17 crew members evacuated the aircraft. The only reported injury other than the death of the hijacker was that of a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, a passenger on the flight, who broke his leg exiting via the inflated evacuation chute. The plane took off hours later for Hong Kong to have its evacuation gear repaired. Aftermath Vaughn reported that he had guessed (correctly) that Bình was bluffing. The foil-wrapped package actually contained lemons. Many U.S. anti-war protesters viewed Bình as a martyr for their cause, and shortly after the incident a break-in occurred at Vaughn's home in Scottsdale, Arizona, with "animal intestines, paint and broken bottles" thrown into his swimming pool. The protesters also left a note, apparently written in animal blood: "Pig Eugene Vaughn guilty of murder. To be punished later. Long live Nguyễn Thái Bình. Victory to the Vietnamese. Death to the American aggressor." However, Vaughn was also lauded as a hero who acted to save his passengers, craft and crew, and his actions were described as an expression of frustration with the many hijackings that occurred during the period. Vaughn was quoted as saying, at an event to honor him at the Phoenix airport on his return to the United States, "A lot of time and effort has been spent on trying to prevent hijackings, but the only thing that will be effective is a mandatory death penalty, without any loopholes." Vaughn retired from Pan Am in 1979 after 38 years with the airline, and died of cancer in 1984; both of his sons became airline pilots. Bình's friends in the US established a collection in 1974 at