On this day, Feb. 22, 1974, unemployed salesman Samuel Byck was stopped by police after Byck stormed a commercial airliner he planned to fly from Baltimore/Washington International Airport and crash it into the White House. Using a revolver he stole from a friend, Byck fatally shot an airport security guard as he made his way through the airport to an Atlanta-bound Delta flight.
Once on board the DC-9, Byck ordered the two pilots to take off, but, the pilots informed him, they couldn’t move the plane without removing the wheel blocks. Byck shot them both, killing one, and then demanded a passenger fly the plane.
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An Anne Arundel County police officer eventually got on board the plane and shot Byck through the door to the cockpit, hitting him twice. But before the officer could get inside, Byck shot and killed himself.
Byck’s plan, it was later learned, was to kill President Richard Nixon by crashing the plane into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
