Richard Obergfell: TWA Skyjacker 1971
A TWA 727 similar to the one hijacked by Richard Obergfell.
The Skyjacking Epidemic
The period of the late 1960s and early '70s was the heyday of people seizing control of passenger planes and demanding to be flown to a destination of their choice.
Between 1968 and 1972, the crime that became known as skyjacking was happening on average every five-and-a-half days. Adding to the statistics, Richard Obergell took over a TWA airplane and proved that, as William Shakespeare warned us: “The course of true love never did run smooth.”
A Life Gone Wrong
Richard Obergfell, in his 26 years, seems to have lived a life that didn't go so well. According to The New York Times, his “landlord, John Celentano, described Obergfell as an 'emotional man' and 'kind of weird.'” Others said he was just quiet.
He had trained as a U.S. Navy aviation mechanic and had gone into civilian life doing the same kind of work for United Airlines. However, Obergfell developed a habit of not showing up for work, so he was fired for “unsatisfactory absenteeism.”
Unemployed and lonely, he struck up a pen pal relationship with a woman in Italy. From his home in New Jersey, he started reading Italian newspapers and listening to Italian radio stations so he could converse with his friend in her native language. Over time, he persuaded himself that he was in love with his pen pal and conceived a plan for a face-to-face meeting.
Step one was to get a job with Alitalia, but no doubt his work habits at United had filtered through to the Italian airline's hiring system and he was turned down. So plan B was initiated—hijack a plane and force the pilot to fly him to Italy so he could be with his beloved.
How Not to Hijack an Airplane
In preparation for his caper, Obergfell stole a .38 Walther pistol from a New Jersey sporting goods store. Then he went to New York's LaGuardia Airport and boarded Trans World Airlines flight 335 to Chicago. The plane left at 2 p.m. on July 23, 1971.
About 20 minutes out of New York, Obergfell made his move. He grabbed flight attendant Idie Maria Concepcion, 21, and shoved his gun into her back. He told her, “I’m not going to hurt you if you do what I say.” What he said was to go to the cockpit with him where he had a message for the pilot.
On the flight deck, he demanded to be flown to Milan, but he hadn't fully thought through his plan. The plane was a Boeing 727, an aircraft that didn't have the range to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. So, he changed his instructions.
The pilot was told to return to LaGuardia and order up a plane that could make the journey to Milan. Captain Albert Hawes announced to his passengers:
“We're going back to LaGuardia. We've got a gentleman who wants to go other places.”
At LaGuardia, the hijacker released the 55 passengers and five crew, with the exception of Ms. Conception. There were no suitable planes available at LaGuardia, so arrangements were made to transfer Obergfell and his hostage to Kennedy International Airport where a Boeing 707 was being made ready.
Takedown at Kennedy
Arriving at Kennedy, Obergfell got out of the transfer van, keeping close to Ms. Concepcion as they walked across the tarmac to the waiting 707.
An FBI sniper was concealed about 50 feet away, but the hijacker kept his hostage too close for him to get a clear shot. But then Ms. Concepcion accidentally stepped on her captor's foot, causing him to lose his balance and take a step backwards. Sniper Kenneth Lovin saw his chance and fired off two quick rounds.
A United Press International reporter noted that Lovin's bullets “shredded his (Obergfell's) vital organs.” Ms. Concepcion later recalled that when she heard the two shots she thought: “I’m dead—he killed me.”
But of course, he hadn't. “I looked around, and [Obergfell] started to get up on his elbow. He looked a little dazed. When I saw he was still on the ground, I thought he was going to shoot me, and I started to run, run, run.”
Obergfell died shortly thereafter, the only casualty of a love affair that went horribly wrong.
Obergfell was brought down by an FBI agent's sniper bullet.
Bonus Factoids
- According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Obergfell was the first hijacker to be killed in the United States.
- Sniper Kenneth Lovin might have expected commendation from the FBI. Instead then-director J. Edgar Hoover gave him a telling off “for wearing a short-sleeved shirt while sniping.”
- In March 2016, another man hijacked an airplane over love. Seif Eldin Mustafa, 59, took over an EgyptAir flight and directed it to Cyprus because he wanted to be with his ex-wife and children who were living on the island nation. Things worked out better for Mustafa in the sense that he wasn't killed by security personnel.
- The first recorded skyjacking probably occurred in December 1929. A man was flying a postal route in Mexico when he was ordered to divert away from his planned itinerary.
Sources
- “Richard Obergfell Hijacked a Plane to Visit His Pen-Pal in Italy.” Brendan I. Koerner, Slate, June 12, 2013.
- “The Skies Belong to Us: How Hijackers Created an Airline Crisis in the 1970s.” heymarkarms, longreads.com, July 29, 2014
- “This Isn't the First Time Someone Tried to Hijack a Plane Out of Love.” Ishaan Tharoor, The Washington Post, March 29, 2016.
- “Landlord Says Hijacker Hoped to Marry in Italy.” Fox Butterfield, The New York Times, July 24, 1971.
- “Young Hijacker Slain as He Waits to Board Second Plane to Italy.” United Press International, July 24, 1971.
- “The Deacon and the Dog.” Daniel Edward Rosen, City Journal, Summer 2022.
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© 2022 Rupert Taylor
