Re hijacking timeline of Flight 305 by Dick Clever (Seattle P-I)

FD-350 (Rev. 7-16-63)

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(Mount Clipping in Space Below)

The Drama of Seized Plane's Stop at Sea-Tac

BY DICK CLEVER

At 5:40 p.m. The Seattle-Tacoma Airport tower radioed to Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305: "Everything is ready for your arrival." Flight 305 had been in the air for more than 2½ hours, much too long for a flight from Portland to Seattle. A calm hijacker was in control of the 80-ton Boeing 727 and he had refused to allow the plane to land until the money and the parachutes were at the airport. 5:45 p.m.—Flight 305 touches down at Sea-Tac. Pilot Bill Scott radios to the tower: "We will ask you to stay right there until we get coordinated with our friend in the back."

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The hijacker apparently had spent much of the flight in a rear lavatory with his hostage, stewardess Tina Mucklow. Flight 305 rolls south along runway 16R and stops halfway down the field about 2,000 yards west of the airport administration building. Tower to Pilot Scott: "Do you want the runway lights on bright?" The hijacker had expressed a desire to land in a lighted place, Scott had messaged earlier, "so he can see what's going on." But now Scott replies to the tower: "No, you better turn them down." Immediately, the thousands of lights lining the several thousand feet of runway 16R dim to a faint glimmer. Scott asks that a fuel truck come out on the runway first to begin fuel-

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ing operations, adding that the hijacker wants the plane fueled "right now." 5:50—The first fuel truck arrives at the plane. 6:05—The $200,000 demanded by the hijacker is loaded onto the plane, along with four parachutes. 6:10—The first fuel truck reports its lines are vapor-locked. The fueling operation cannot continue. A second truck is called into service. The hijacker is remaining in the rear of the plane, Scott reports. Tower: "If you are able to talk, can you say what kind of device it is?" Scott: "The stewardess with him said she saw some red cylinders with wires attached in a briefcase. It's like dynamite." With the hijacker out of earshot of the cockpit, there follows a brief dis-

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cussion between pilot and tower of the options available to the crew once the passengers are safely removed. A Northwest Airlines ground supervisor suggests by two-way radio that once the passengers are clear the hijacker be somehow distracted so the crew can evacuate the plane "and leave the sonuvabitch go." "That's our contingency plan," Scott replies calmly. Also by 6:10 p.m. the passengers had been allowed to leave the plane. And by 6:10 p.m. Sea-Tac was completely shut down as the passengers walked down the runway to meet a bus. A runway adjacent to 16R had been in operation during the fueling. 6:50 p.m. — The fueling operation is not going well. The second fuel truck is empty after loading only 2,300 pounds of fuel. Scott warns the

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p. A3 Seattle Post- Intelligencer Seattle, Wash.

Date: 11/25/71 Edition: Final Author: Dick Clever Editor: Dick Lyall Title: UNSUB;Northwest Airlines, Flight 305 Portland to Seattle Character: 11/24/71 or CAA-HIJACKING;EXT Classification: 164-81 Submitting Office: Seattle

☐ Being Investigated

COPY SENT TO BUREAU

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RECEIVED [date illegible] FILED

[illegible] 91571 FBI—SEATTLE

DB Cooper-22501

tower that the hijacker is "getting antsy." Also at 6:50 p.m. two stewardesses are allowed to leave the plane. They are brought to the Northwest opera- tions office for debriefing by the FBI and then spirited away from the growing crowd of newsmen. Operations manager Al Lee radios Flight 305: "I just talked to the two stews and they seem to think that if you call back to let him know every- thing's okay he'll let the other one go." Irritated response from Flight 305: "That's not true. He's got her sitting back with him and he's not going to let her go." 7 p.m. — Pilot Scott asks that the rotating beacons on a service vehicle be turned off. 7:05 — Pilot and tower discuss pos-

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sible flight plans to Mexico City. The hijacker wants the 727 to fly with flaps down 15 per cent, landing gear down and doors open. It is agreed that the plane cannot fly nonstop to Phoenix. Tower: "Seattle-to-Reno is a better choice for a wise hijacker." The tower also advises Flight 305 that "you will have people following you all the way down" to Reno, one plane above and one plane below. At about 7:30 p.m., Flight 305 is cleared for takeoff. Scott: "Any restrictions on climb- ing?" Tower: "No restrictions at all. You climb any way you can." Scott: "Sorry for all the trouble." Tower: "No trouble at all." 7:40 p.m. — Flight 305 is airborne and bound for Reno.

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DB Cooper-22502