Cold Open

It’s 10 AM on June 14th, 1985, in the skies above Greece. 

39-year-old flight attendant Uli Derickson takes a seat in the galley of Trans World Airlines Flight 847. She’s just finished her routine safety demonstration for the plane’s 139 passengers and is taking the opportunity for a quick break - it’s a short two-hour flight from Athens to Rome, but she knows she’ll only have a few minutes of peace before it’s time for her other duties.

Her short break is soon interrupted though.

Uli sighs as she hears the sound of raised voices in the main cabin. She gets to her feet… and pulls back the curtain separating galley from the rest of the plane. What she sees makes Uli’s stomach drop. Two men stand in the aisle yelling in a language that sounds like Arabic. One is waving a pistol. The other holds something small and round above his head. The blood rushes from Uli’s face as she realizes that it’s a grenade.

Swallowing her own fear, Uli urges passengers to stay seated as she strides forward to confront the men. The two armed terrorists notice her and start shouting. Uli puts her hands in the air, trying to calm them… but one of the men knocks her to the floor. Several passengers, outraged by the sudden violence, stand up as if they’re about to intervene—but then quickly retake their seats when the pistol is pointed their way.

The hijackers then drag the dazed Uli down the aisle toward the front of the plane.

One of the men pounds on the door to the flight deck—but it doesn’t open. Uli calls out weakly to the pilots, but before they can respond… the men kick down the door and burst inside. Uli sees the pilots turn in their seats, and the shocked looks on their faces turning to terror as they see the pistol pointing right at them.

In the 1980s, more people than ever are traveling by air—but as passenger numbers grow, so too does the threat of hijacking. Airport security is lax, and an airplane gives terrorists a group of captives with no avenues for escape. Some hijackings are short, nonviolent affairs. But others spiral out of control. And one of the most notorious begins in the skies over Greece when TWA Flight 847 is taken over by armed men on June 14th, 1985. 

Introduction 

From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham and this is History Daily.

History is made every day. On this podcast—every day—we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. 

Today is June 14th, 1985: The Hijacking of TWA Flight 847.

Act One: Demands

It’s 10:40 AM on June 14th, 1985, in the cockpit of TWA Flight 847, only moments after the plane was hijacked by two armed men.

Time seems to stand still for flight attendant Uli Derickson as the plane’s two pilots stare down the barrel of a pistol. Desperate to intervene before anyone gets hurt, Uli pleads with the two hijackers to stop—but in her panic, Uli doesn’t speak English and resorts to her first language, German.

To Uli’s surprise, the man holding the pistol turns and responds in perfect German. He declares that everyone on the plane is now a hostage. The hijacker then jerks his head at the pilots, and orders Uli to tell them to re-route the plane to Beirut.

Uli’s heart sinks because Beirut is the capital of Lebanon—and for the last ten years, Lebanon has been engulfed in a bloody civil war. The country has split down religious and sectarian lines. Other powers in the region have intervened as well, and now Lebanon is the battlefront in a wider conflict between Israel, Syria and Iran. The Lebanese people have been condemned to years of suffering as a result. And as the fighting goes on, radical factions have gained popularity and influence in the country. Now, Uli worries that it’s one of these groups that’s responsible for today’s hijacking.

Uli passes along the hijackers’ demand to the plane’s pilot, Captain John Testrake. He turns the control column, beginning a long east turn toward Lebanon. Satisfied that the pilot is cooperating, the hijacker with the pistol drags Uli out of the flight deck and back into the main cabin.

There, many of the passengers are sobbing. Others screaming hysterically, or shouting abuse at the hijackers. One or two just glare silently—and they’re the ones Uli is most worried about. If they try to overpower the hijackers and in the scuffle, a grenade detonates, it’ll bring down the plane and kill them all. Standing behind Uli, the hijacker tells her to restore order in the cabin—but the passengers’ cries drown out Uli’s voice. Enraged, the hijacker starts lashing out, striking nearby passengers indiscriminately with the side of his pistol. Uli pleads with him to stop and for the passengers to be quiet, but only after what feels like several minutes of panic does she succeed in calming the cabin. 

After order is restored, the hijacker asks Uli to collect the passengers’ passports and identify individuals with Jewish-sounding names. Uli does as she’s told. But while she goes through the cabin, gathering up documents row by row, she tries to think of a way to protect her passengers. Israel and Lebanon are enemies, and Uli knows that the fate of Jewish passengers on board is likely to be a bad one. So, waiting for a moment when the hijacker is distracted, Uli tries to stuff the Jewish passengers’ passports into a cupboard in the galley. But her brave effort fails when the hijacker spots her. He hits Uli again and grabs all the passports from her - but before he can take any further retribution, the second hijacker calls out from the flight deck.

They are now minutes away from Beirut. It’s not long before the plane touches down with a jolt.

On the tarmac, Uli overhears the hijackers’ demands as they’re communicated through the plane's radio to the airport. They want the release of Lebanese militants held in American and Israeli custody. They want Israel to withdraw its forces from disputed lands. And they want the United Nations to formally condemn the USA and Israel. 

After communicating these demands, the hijackers order Captain Testrake to take off again and fly to Algiers. But the capital of Algeria is at the other end of the Mediterranean and the aircraft doesn’t have enough fuel. Uli sees an opportunity to get some passengers off the plane - so she steps in, suggesting that the hijackers trade hostages for fuel. Her plan works. After nineteen women and children are released, the airport authorities agree to fuel up the plane.

The hijacked plane then takes off with its remaining passengers, and, hours later, arrives in Algiers. But when they touch down, the hijackers learn that there has been no progress in meeting their demands. In response, they threaten to start killing hostages. But Uli remains a calming presence on board, and she persuades the increasingly desperate hijackers to trade 21 more hostages for fuel. With a topped-up tank, the plane heads back across the Mediterranean and lands in Beirut for a second time. There, twelve more terrorists board the plane. They hold a brief huddled conference, then seize an American passenger: off-duty Army diver Robert Stetham. The hijackers shoot Robert in the head and drop his body onto the tarmac below the plane. 

This murder terrifies the surviving hostages. A bleak and fearful silence descends on the cabin. But Uli doesn’t despair - she continues trying to protect her passengers.

She keeps people calm as the plane is refueled and returns to the sky. Algiers is the destination once again. And there, officials will negotiate the release of all 65 remaining female hostages on the plane—including Uli. She will depart reluctantly, however, unhappy at leaving 40 male hostages behind. Now, it will fall to Captain John Testrake to protect them, and guide this dangerous situation to a peaceful resolution. 

Act Two: Freedom

It’s 6:50 PM on June 15th, 1985, at the Algiers airport, thirty-three hours after the hijacking of TWA Flight 847.

On the flight deck, 58-year-old Captain John Testrake tries to stifle a tired yawn as the hijackers stand behind him, talking feverishly amongst themselves in Arabic. Captain Testrake doesn’t know what they’re saying, so he is surprised when an object suddenly drops into his lap. It’s a small homemade bomb, but he struggles to make sense of what he is seeing. The hijackers snatch the bomb back and begin to laugh, slapping Captain Testrake on the back. They seemed to be impressed that he didn’t flinch when he saw the bomb. They don’t know that the reason he didn’t react is because he’s so exhausted.

Captain Testrake has been awake for over a day. In that time, he’s flown his plane back and forth between Beirut and Algiers . He’s been beaten on several occasions and he has barely eaten. But Captain Testrake knows he must still remain focused. Even though he’s physically and mentally exhausted, he needs all his powers of concentration to ensure that he doesn’t make a catastrophic mistake.

Later that evening, he watches through the window of the cockpit as a black vehicle crawls across the dark tarmac and pulls up alongside the plane. Several men get out and wait patiently. The hijackers suspect a trick, so they order Captain Testrake to open his window and find out what the men want. After Captain Testrake greets them, the men from the vehicle identify themselves as negotiators from the Red Cross.

These negotiators then speak directly with the hijackers in Arabic, so Captain Testrake is again left in the dark about what’s being said. But from the hijackers’ increasingly furious body language, he can work out that the negotiators have refused to meet their demands. And after the negotiators leave, Captain Testrake is ordered at gunpoint to fly back to Beirut for a third time. But this will be the last.

In Lebanon, Captain Testrake and the other remaining hostages are removed from the plane and lined up on the runway. In the distance, Captain Testrake can see film crews and photographers along the airfield perimeter, capturing their every move. Then a blindfold is slipped over his eyes. Captain Testrake is sure that this is it. He’s about to be murdered by the hijackers in the full glare of the world’s media. But then suddenly, Captain Testrake hears the roar of vehicles approaching at high speed. Tires squeal as they come to a halt nearby, and Captain Testrake is roughly manhandled inside one of them and driven away.

When his blindfold is finally removed, Captain Testrake finds himself in a small, windowless room. He has no idea where he is, or what's happened to the other hostages. Hours pass, and then days. Cut off from the outside world, Captain Testrake starts to wonder whether he’s been forgotten, whether he’ll spend the rest of his life in this tiny cell.

But then, after thirteen days, he is dragged out of confinement and taken to a nearby schoolyard. The rest of the plane’s hostages are waiting there - alongside a man who identifies himself as a representative of the United States government. He’s here on the orders of President Ronald Reagan. And after days of intense negotiations, he’s finally won the hostages their freedom.

The militants who held Captain Testrake melt away as he’s led to a US Army vehicle. The final hostages from Flight 847 are then driven to an airfield and depart the Middle East again—but this time, Captain Testrake is a passenger, and on his way home.

Upon their arrival in America, President Reagan welcomes the freed hostages in person—and vows that the United States will do everything in its power to hunt down the men responsible for hijacking and the murder of American hostage Robert Stetham.

"President Reagan: Our joy at your return is substantial, but so is our pain at what was done to that son of America. I know you care deeply about Robbie Stethem and what was done to him. We will not forget what was done to him. There will be no forgetting. His murderers must be brought to justice."

President Reagan claims that no concessions or deals have been made with the hijackers to secure the release of the hostages. But Reagan’s words are questioned when reporters discover that 31 Lebanese prisoners are released by Israel at the same moment that the hostages are freed. And over the coming months, Israel will release over seven hundred more prisoners without explanation.

But although President Reagan’s claim that America does not negotiate with terrorists will be doubted, his quest to bring the hijackers to justice will continue. The hunt will go on for decades, until, more than 30 years later, it will lead to a high-stakes case of mistaken identity.

Act Three: The Hunt Continues 

It’s September 17th, 2019, on the Greek island of Mykonos, 34 years after the hijacking of TWA Flight 847.

65-year-old Lebanese journalist Mohammed Saleh steps off a boat onto a dock overlooking sandy shores and clear waters. Pretty whitewashed buildings with azure blue roofs scatter the hillside. Mohammed reaches for his smartphone to take a photo—but before he can get it out of his pocket, he feels a firm grip on his shoulder. Moments later, Mohammed is whisked away from his worried wife and taken to the island’s police station. Only when he’s in custody do officers tell him why he’s under arrest - he’s accused of being one of the hijackers of TWA Flight 847.

In the weeks that followed the hijacking in 1985, American investigators concluded that the man named Mohammed Ali Hammadi was one of the two terrorists who first seized the plane. Two years later, he was arrested in West Germany while attempting to smuggle explosives. Hammadi was convicted and imprisoned in Germany for weapons trafficking and the murder of Robert Stetham during the hijacking of Flight 847. But after his release on parole in 2005, the German authorities refused to extradite Hammadi to the United States which allowed him to slip out of Germany and go back to Lebanon—and back to the top of the FBI’s most wanted list. Now, Greek authorities think they’ve apprehended Hammadi on Mykonos—and unlike their German counterparts, the Greeks are happy to deliver him into American custody.

News organizations all over the world excitedly announce Hammedi’s capture. But there’s a problem: Mohammed Saleh is not Mohammed Ali Hammadi in disguise. He really is just on vacation.

Mohammed is held under armed guard for a week, until the Lebanese government supplies proof to confirm his identity. Mohammed is then released and returned to his concerned family, but it’s too late to restart the vacation. Instead, he returns home to Lebanon, shaken by his experience but otherwise unharmed.

Mohammed’s arrest is an embarrassment for the Greek authorities, but it acts as a reminder that President Ronald Reagan’s decades-old vow to win justice for Robert Stetham is still unfulfilled—and that, even now, the United States government has not given up the hunt for the men who hijacked TWA Flight 847 on June 14th, 1985. 

Outro

Next on History Daily. June 17th, 1972. A political scandal begins after a break-in at Washington DC’s Watergate complex.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily, hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Muhammad Shahzaib.

Sound design by Mollie Baack. 

Music by Thrumm.

This episode is written and researched by Owen Long.

Edited by Scott Reeves.

Managing producer Emily Burke.

Executive Producers are William Simpson for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.