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 bootleggers commandeered truckloads of liquor from each other, and reappeared when political activists began to seize commercial airplanes in the 1960s.
Karber, Phillip A. 2002. "Reconstructing Global Aviation in an Era of the Civil Aircraft as a Weapon of Destruction." Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 781.
Niles, Mark C. 2002. "On the Hijacking of Agencies (and Airplanes): The Federal Aviation Administration, 'Agency Capture,' and Airline Security." American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy, and the Law 381.