Pam Am Flight 281
Hijack
A Pan Am Boeing 707 similar to the hijacked aircraft
Date	November 24, 1968
Summary	Aircraft hijacking
Site	USA and Cuba
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Boeing 707^[1]
Operator	Pan Am
Flight origin	JFK International Airport, NY, USA
Stopover	Havana, Cuba
Destination	San Juan, Puerto Rico
Passengers	205
Crew	3
Fatalities	0
Injuries	0
Missing	0
Survivors	208

Pan Am Flight 281 was a regularly scheduled Pan American World Airways flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was hijacked on November 24, 1968, by four men from JFK International Airport, New York City to Havana, Cuba.^[2]^[3] U.S. jet fighter aircraft followed the plane until it reached Cuban airspace.^[4]

Two of the hijackers were apprehended in the 1970s. Jose Rafael Rios Cruz was arrested in 1975; Miguel Castro was captured in 1976. Both pleaded guilty; Cruz was sentenced to 15 years in prison and Castro to 12.

A third hijacker, Luis Armando Peña Soltren, lived as a fugitive in Cuba. In October 2009, he voluntarily returned to the United States and surrendered to federal authorities. He pleaded guilty to the hijacking on March 18, 2010.^[5] On January 4, 2011 he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, without the possibility of parole.^[6]

Alejandro Figueroa, a woman charged as a co-conspirator in the case, was acquitted in 1969.

References

^ "15-Year Sentence for 1968 Hijacking". The New York Times. 2011. Retrieved 2013-03-31.
^ "Suspect in 1968 hijacking at JFK is captured". CNN.com. 2009-10-12. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
^ "Man arrested in '68 hijacking of flight from NY". The Associated Press. 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
^ "With arrest, memories of hijacking ordeal flood back". The Associated Press. 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
^ "Hijacker of Pan American Flight 281 Pleads Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court". FBI. 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-03-22. Retrieved 2010-09-22.
^ "US man given 15 years for 1968 Cuba hijack". BBC News. 2011-01-04.

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1968

Jan 6

Aeroflot Flight 1668

Jan 21

Thule Air Base B-52 crash

Feb 7

Indian Air Force An-12 crash

Feb 16

Civil Air Transport Flight 10

Feb 29

Aeroflot Flight 15

Mar 6

Air France Flight 212

Mar 24

Aer Lingus Flight 712

Mar 27

Yuri Gagarin's MiG-15 crash

Mar 27

Ozark Air Lines Flight 965

Apr 5

Hawker Hunter Tower Bridge incident

Apr 8

BOAC Flight 712

Apr 20

South African Airways Flight 228

May 3

Braniff Flight 352

May 12

Kham Duc C-130 shootdown

May 22

Los Angeles Airways Flight 841

May 28

Garuda Indonesian Airways Flight 892

Jul 1

Seaboard World Airlines Flight 253A

Jul 3

BKS Air Transport Flight C.6845

Jul 23

El Al Flight 426 hijacking

Aug 14

Los Angeles Airways Flight 417

Sep 11

Air France Flight 1611

Oct 25

Northeast Airlines Flight 946

Nov 22

Japan Air Lines Flight 2

Nov 24

Pan Am Flight 281

Dec 2

Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55

Dec 12

Pan Am Flight 217

Dec 24

Allegheny Airlines Flight 736

Dec 26

El Al Flight 253

Dec 26

Pan Am Flight 799

Dec 27

North Central Airlines Flight 458

Dec 27

Ozark Air Lines Flight 982

Dec 31

MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750

1967 ◄ ► 1969

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1960s
1960	National Airlines Flight 2511 Capital Airlines Flight 20 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710 Chicago Helicopter Airways Flight 698 World Airways Flight 830 Eastern Air Lines Flight 375 Cal Poly football team New York mid-air collision
1961	Goldsboro B-52 American Airlines Flight 1502 Yuba City B-52 United Air Lines Flight 859 Alaska Airlines Flight 779 TWA Flight 529 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8 Cincinnati Zantop DC-4
1962	American Airlines Flight 1 Continental Airlines Flight 11 Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 301 United Air Lines Flight 297 Eastern Air Lines Flight 512
1963	Elephant Mountain B-52 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 Camden PA-24 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 293 Mohawk Airlines Flight 112 Pan Am Flight 214
1964	Savage Mountain B-52 Eastern Air Lines Flight 304 Paradise Airlines Flight 901A Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 United Air Lines Flight 823 Bonanza Air Lines Flight 114 Flying Tiger Line Flight 282
1965	USAF KC-135 Wichita Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 Pan Am Flight 843 Continental Airlines Flight 12 Allegheny Airlines Flight 604 United Air Lines Flight 389 American Airlines Flight 383 United Air Lines Flight 227 Carmel mid-air (Eastern 853, TWA 42)
1966	NASA T-38 American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D Braniff International Airways Flight 250 West Coast Airlines Flight 956
1967	Lake Central Airlines Flight 527 TWA Flight 553 West Coast Airlines Flight 720 Delta Air Lines Flight 9877 Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 Piedmont Airlines Flight 22 TWA Flight 159 X-15 Flight 3-65-97 TWA Flight 128
1968	Ozark Air Lines Flight 965 Braniff International Airways Flight 352 Los Angeles Airways Flight 841 Los Angeles Airways Flight 417 Northeast Airlines Flight 946 Japan Air Lines Flight 2 Pan Am Flight 281 Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55 Allegheny Airlines Flight 736 Pan Am Flight 799 North Central Airlines Flight 458 Ozark Air Lines Flight 982
1969	Allegheny Airlines Flight 737 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 933 United Air Lines Flight 266 Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 Prinair Flight 277 Delta Air Lines Flight 821 TWA Flight 5787 Newton Cessna 172 crash Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 Mohawk Airlines Flight 411
This list is incomplete.