On this day, July 31, in 1972, black militants hijacked Delta Flight 841 from Detroit to Miami, using weapons smuggled on board, including a handgun secreted in a cut-out Bible.
The five hijackers, who traveled with three children, made off with a $1 million ransom. FBI agents delivered the money in bathing suits so that the captors could see they were unarmed.
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Four of the five hijackers were arrested the following spring in France. The fifth, George Wright, who dressed as a priest during the heist, could not be found. Before the hijacking, Wright had escaped from prison in New Jersey for a 1962 armed robbery and homicide.
On Sept. 25, 2011, four decades later, the FBI tracked Wright to Portugal and arrested him. Portugal recently denied his extradition, citing statue of limitations, and Wright remains free.
— Scott McCabe
