NEW YORK ( CNN ) -- A man accused of playing a role in the 1968 hijacking of a Pan Am flight from New York to Puerto Rico was arrested Sunday , federal officials said . Luis Armando Pena Soltren surrendered to federal authorities at New York 's JFK International Airport . Luis Armando Pena Soltren , 66 , surrendered to federal authorities at New York 's John F. Kennedy International Airport after exiting a flight from Havana , Cuba , officials said . It 's the same airport from which Pan Am Flight 281 took off more than 40 years ago . He flew to New York under the custody of State Department diplomatic security personnel , said a law enforcement source and a senior State Department official . Authorities did not offer additional details about Soltren 's arrest . Soltren `` will finally face the American justice system that he has been evading for more than four decades , '' U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said . According to a December 1968 indictment , Soltren and three others -- Jose Rafael Rios Cruz , Miguel Castro and Alejandro Figueroa -- conspired to hijack Flight 281 on November 24 of that year . They were accused of bringing concealed guns and knives aboard and using them to take over the flight . Crew members told authorities at the time that the armed suspects forced their way into the plane 's cabin and ordered the crew to fly to Havana , according to court documents . Cruz and Castro were sentenced in the 1970s after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court in New York . They received 15-year and 12-year sentences , respectively . Their current whereabouts were not immediately known . Figueroa was acquitted in 1969 . CNN 's Evan Buxbaum , Carol Cratty and Elise Labott contributed to this report .
Luis Alberto Pena Mendoza , 66 , surrendered to federal authorities at JFK Airport . It 's same airport from which Pan Am Flight 281 took off more than 40 years ago . Indictment : Mendoza , three others conspired to hijack Flight 281 in November 1968 . U.S. Attorney : Soltren ` ` will finally face the American justice system ''