The Skies Belong to Us
Author: Koerner, Brendan I.
ISBN: 9780307886118
Publisher: RANDOM HOUSE US
Year first published: 01 Sep 2014
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback / softback
The epic story of two broken Americans--a shattered Army veteran and a mischievous party girl--who together in 1972 pulled off the longest-distance hijacking in U.S. history.
The true stroy of the longest-distance hijacking in American history.
In an America torn apart by the Vietnam War and the demise of'60s idealism, airplane hijackings were astonishingly routine. Over a five-year period starting in 1968, the desperate and disillusioned seized commercial jets nearly once a week, using guns, bombs, and jars of acid. Some hijackers wished to escape to foreign lands; others aimed to swap hostages for sacks of cash. Their criminal exploits mesmerized the country, never more so than when shattered Army veteran Roger Holder and mischievous party girl Cathy Kerkow managred to comandeer Western Airlines Flight 701 and flee across an ocean with a half-million dollars in ransom-a heist that remainsthe longest-distance hijacking in American history.
More than just an enthralling story about a spectacular crime and its bittersweet, decades-long aftermath, The Skies Belong to Us is also a psychological portrait of America at its most turbulent and a testament to the madness that can grip a nation when politics fail.
ISBN: 9780307886118
Publisher: RANDOM HOUSE US
Year first published: 01 Sep 2014
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback / softback
The epic story of two broken Americans--a shattered Army veteran and a mischievous party girl--who together in 1972 pulled off the longest-distance hijacking in U.S. history.
The true stroy of the longest-distance hijacking in American history.
In an America torn apart by the Vietnam War and the demise of'60s idealism, airplane hijackings were astonishingly routine. Over a five-year period starting in 1968, the desperate and disillusioned seized commercial jets nearly once a week, using guns, bombs, and jars of acid. Some hijackers wished to escape to foreign lands; others aimed to swap hostages for sacks of cash. Their criminal exploits mesmerized the country, never more so than when shattered Army veteran Roger Holder and mischievous party girl Cathy Kerkow managred to comandeer Western Airlines Flight 701 and flee across an ocean with a half-million dollars in ransom-a heist that remainsthe longest-distance hijacking in American history.
More than just an enthralling story about a spectacular crime and its bittersweet, decades-long aftermath, The Skies Belong to Us is also a psychological portrait of America at its most turbulent and a testament to the madness that can grip a nation when politics fail.
