During the early 1970s before strict airport security was implemented across the United States , several airlines experienced hijackings . Southern Airways Flight 49 , a DC-9 en route from Memphis to Miami was hijacked on November 10 , 1972 during a stop in Birmingham , Alabama . The three hijackers boarded the plane armed with handguns and hand grenades . At gunpoint , the hijackers took the airplane , the plane ’s crew of four , and 27 passengers to nine American cities , Toronto , and eventually to Havana , Cuba . During the long flight the hijackers threatened to crash the plane into the Oak Ridge , Tennessee , nuclear facilities , insisted on talking with President Richard Nixon , and demanded a ransom of $ 10 million . Southern Airways was only able to come up with $ 2 million . Eventually the pilot talked the hijackers into settling for the $ 2 million when the plane landed in Chattanooga for refueling . Upon landing in Havana the Cuban authorities arrested the hijackers and , after a brief delay , sent the plane , passengers , and crew back to the United States . The hijackers and $ 2 million stayed in Cuba
hijacked
Southern Airways Flight 49
Southern Airways