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The American Airlines Boeing 727-223 involved in the incident.
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Occurrence | |
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Date | November 15, 1979 |
Summary | Bombing |
Site | near Washington Dulles International Airport 38°57′11″N 77°27′00″W / 38.953°N 77.450°W / 38.953; -77.450 |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Boeing 727-223 |
Operator | American Airlines |
Registration | N876AA |
Flight origin | Chicago O'Hare International Airport |
Destination | Washington National Airport |
Occupants | 78 |
Passengers | 72 |
Crew | 6 |
Fatalities | 0 |
Injuries | 12 |
Survivors | 78 (all) |
American Airlines Flight 444 was a scheduled American Airlines flight from ChicagotoWashington, D.C.'s National Airport. On November 15, 1979, the Boeing 727 serving the flight was attacked by Ted Kaczynski (also known as the Unabomber), who sent a pipe bomb in the mail and set it to detonate at a certain altitude. The bomb partially detonated in the cargo hold and caused "a sucking explosion and a loss of pressure," which was then followed by large quantities of smoke filling the passenger cabin, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing at Dulles International Airport.[1][2][3] Twelve passengers had to be treated afterward for smoke inhalation.[2]
Bombing a commercial airliner, especially one flying through an interstate route as Flight 444 was at the time, is a federal criminal offense, and the FBI was quickly called in to investigate. The FBI investigators assigned to the case found similarities between the still relatively intact pipe bomb and two bombs that had previously detonated at Northwestern University. This prompted federal authorities to assign the name "Unabomber" (for University and Airline Bomber) to the then-unknown suspect, and sparked one of the longest and most expensive manhunts in FBI history, which finally ended 17 years later with Ted Kaczynski being arrested and charged in 1996.
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1979 (1979)
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Jan 30 Feb 12 Feb 17 Mar 14 Mar 17 Mar 26 1979 Interflug Ilyushin Il-18 crash Mar 29 Apr 4 Apr 23 May 25 May 30 Jun 17 Jun 20 Jul 11 Jul 26 Jul 31 Aug 11 Dniprodzerzhynsk mid-air collision Aug 29 Sep 14 Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 12 Oct 7 Oct 31 Nov 11 Nov 15 Nov 26 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740 Nov 28 Dec 18 Dec 23 | |
Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1970s
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