On this day, Feb. 22, in 1975, Samuel Byck shot and killed two people at Baltimore/Washington International Airport in an attempt to hijack and fly a passenger plane into the White House. Byck, 44, shot airport police Officer George Ramsburg before storming a Delta flight. When the pilots told him they couldn’t fly, he shot both men, killing one. Byck ordered a passenger to fly the plane.
Anne Arundel County police Officer Charles Troyer climbed into the plane and fired through the aircraft door window. Two shots wounded Byck. Byck turned his gun on himself. Under his body, police found a briefcase gasoline bomb. Before his attack, Byck had released tapes announcing his plan, which he dubbed “Operation Pandora’s Box,” to fly a commercial airliner to kill President Nixon.
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-Scott McCabe
