1929-1957

Between 1929 and 1957, there were fewer than 20 incidents of reported
hijackings worldwide and several occurred in Eastern Europe. One of the first
unconfirmed hijackings occurred in December 1929. J. Howard
`Doc'DeCelles was flying apostal route for a Mexican firm
TransportesAerasTranscontinentales, ferrying mail from San Luis Potosi to
Torreon and then on to Guadalajara. A lieutenant named SaturninoCedillo,
the governor of the state of San Luis Potosi, ordered him to divert. Several
other men were also involved, and through an interpreter, DeCelles had no
choice but to comply. He was allegedly held captive for several hours under
armed guard before being released.

Warning posters in a Central African airport, June 2012

The first recorded aircraft hijack took place on February 21 1931, in

Arequipa, Peru. Byron Richards, flying a Ford Tri-Motor, was approached on
the ground by armed revolutionaries. He refused to fly them anywhere during a
10-day standoff.

Richards was informed that the revolution was successful and he could be
freed in return for flying one of the men to Lima. The following year, in
September 1932, a Sikorsky S-38 with registration P-BDAD, still bearing the
titles of Nyrba do Brasil was seized in the company's hangar by three men,
who took a fourth as a hostage. Despite having no flying experience, they

managed to take-off. However, the aircraft crashed in sao Joao de Meriti, killing
the four men. Apparently, the hijack was related to the events of the
Constitutionalist Revolution in Sao Paulo and it is considered to be the first
hijack that took place in Brazil.

On October 28 1939, the first murder on a plane took place in Brookfield,

Missouri. The victim was Carl Bivens, a flight instructor, who was teaching a
man named Earnest P. Tarry'Pletch. While airborne in a Taylor Club
monoplane, Pletch shot Bivens twice in the back of the head. Pletch later told
prosecutors, "Carl was telling me I had a natural ability and I should follow that
 line", adding, "I had a revolver in my pocket and without saying a word to
him, I took it out of my overalls and I fired a bullet into the back of his head.
He never knew what struck him." The Chicago Daily Tribune stated it was one
of the most spectacular crimes of the 20th century. Pletch pleaded guilty and
was sentenced to life in prison. However, he was released on March 1
1957 after serving 17 years, and lived until June 2001.
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