Richard
Floyd McCoy, Jr. - Aircraft Hijacking
Certain
names in the following description are fictitious names
to protect peoples' identities.
Fourteen year-old Peter Fanning (fictitious name) of Provo, Utah, made a surprising
discovery. Lying in front of him, beside a steel culvert, was what he thought
might be a parachute pack. He brought the strange object to his father who was
replacing a flat tire on the family car a short distance away. The father notified
the local sheriff of their find after returning home that afternoon.
It was soon learned that the Fannings had stumbled upon one of the four parachutes
furnished to a lone gunman who had commandeered a passenger plane on April 7,
1972, in the Colorado skies.
United Airlines Flight 855, a Boeing 727 en route from Newark, New Jersey, to
Los Angeles, California, with 85 passengers and a crew of six, had resumed flight
after a Denver, Colorado, stopover. Approximately 20 minutes after takeoff, at
5:18 p.m., a male passenger was observed in his seat holding a hand grenade.
A stewardess, notified of the situation, immediately advised the captain.
An
off-duty pilot known to be on board as a passenger was requested to discreetly
walk around and assess the situation only to have the person in question draw
a pistol as he approached. The gunman handed over a sealed envelope, labeled "hijack
instructions," and stated, "give this envelope to the girl and have
her take it to the captain." A stewardess complied, and the off-duty pilot
returned to his seat.
The stream of events had transpired so quickly that most passengers were
unaware of the threat. Captain William Olinsky (fictitious name) discussed
the matter
with some crew members and decided to land at nearby Grand Junction, Colorado,
where he would radio for law enforcement assistance on the ground. Olinsky
then announced over the public address system that the aircraft was experiencing
a "minor
mechanical problem" and would land shortly.
The envelope with the hijack instructions was then opened by the captain.
Inside were two typed pages of highly detailed directions, a hand grenade
pin, and a
bullet. The "instructions" required Olinsky to land at San Francisco
International Airport, and park at "Runway 19 left." There, he was
to follow certain procedures which designated the number of persons allowed
near the plane at one time, and the distance from the aircraft that all vehicles
other
than those containing fuel were to be kept. In addition, the hijacker demanded
$500,000 in cash, four parachutes, and the return of all written or typed directions
given during the course of the flight.
The crew decided to comply and notified San Francisco of the hijacking
and intended landing. A flight crew member announced to the passengers
that the
Grand Junction
airport could not handle the "necessary repairs" after all, and it
would be necessary to divert to San Francisco. From this point on, normal operations
continued on-board.
In consideration of the safety of all aboard Flight 855, United Air Lines officials
decided to meet the demands upon the plane's landing at San Francisco. Two flight
bags loaded with cash and four parachutes were delivered to the plane. The hijacker,
who had assumed command on touchdown, gave up his baggage check and had his luggage
brought aboard. Fuel trucks hurriedly filled the plane's tanks with thousands
of gallons of jet fuel. After seeing the completion of his written directions,
some three hours after the plane had parked, the gunman released the passengers
and one of the stewardesses. He then ordered the rest of the crew into the cockpit
and took a position in the rear of the aircraft.
The hijacker then used the intercom to summon a stewardess. He gave her another
set of flight instructions, telling the pilot to take off towards the east, climb
to 16,000 feet, and fly precisely at 200 mph on a course that would overpass
several specific Utah communities. The messages, now hand-printed, between hijacker
and pilot were sent with increasing frequency, always using the stewardess as
a courier. The cabin was ordered depressurized, and the gunman warned that if
any pursuit planes were spotted he would detonate a hidden explosive device after
he had jumped, before the plane could be landed.
The hijacker opened his luggage and covered the peephole between the cockpit
and cabin. Observed by Second Officer Floyd Smith (fictitious name) through a
slight space under the cockpit door, the hijacker quickly put on a jumpsuit,
helmet, and parachute. Once he had shut off the cabin lights to better view the
ground, the gunman demanded to be kept abreast of wind, ground, and air speeds;
altimeter settings; and sky conditions.
After the aircraft passed over the last Utah community on his prescribed course,
the hijacker sent no more notes. Hoping the incident was over, a stewardess ventured
into the passenger area and determined that the gunman had indeed bailed out
with the ransom into Utah's darkened skies. Five hours after the hijacking began,
the weary crew headed for nearby Salt Lake City International Airport.
The FBI immediately searched the plane's interior for evidence upon its
landing. Any object the hijacker may have touched was examined. An array
of material such
as seat belts, gum wrappers, cigarette butts, and a copy of United's passenger
publication, "Mainliner Magazine," was gathered by Agents. One hand-printed
note the hijacker neglected to take with him was also sent to the FBI Laboratory
in Washington, D.C., for closer scrutiny.
Interviews with crew members and passengers traced the hijacker's steps
from the moment he boarded. One stewardess recalled the subject was flashily
dressed.
Other passengers and crew remembered a passenger agent had entered the plane
after all had boarded at Denver to locate the owner of an envelope left in
the waiting room. The subject claimed it, went into the lavatory for an
extended
period, and finally was told by a flight officer to return to his seat for
takeoff. The general consensus was that the individual had donned a wig
and moustache
while in the lavatory. However, several passengers felt that more than one
person was involved. The notes received by the crew generally used a terminology
of "we
this" or "we that," thus giving this impression.
A search of the countryside in the vicinity of the Provo, Utah Airport was conducted
since evidence indicated that the hijacker had bailed out in the area. At approximately
2:00 a.m. the next day, FBI Agents, Provo City Police, and the Utah County Sheriff's
posse lined up some 20 to 30 yards apart and combed the surrounding fields.
The night dragged on with no new leads being developed. Within a few hours,
though, area residents woke up to news of the hijacking. The Salt Lake
City Office of
the FBI received a telephone call before noon from a concerned citizen who
said an acquaintance had outlined a "foolproof" plan for hijacking
an airplane. The acquaintance, Richard Floyd McCoy, Jr., was a Vietnam
veteran, a helicopter
pilot, and an avid and capable skydiver. McCoy, 29, was reportedly a member
of the Utah Air National Guard and a Police Science Major at Brigham Young
University.
In addition, McCoy was generally known to be having serious financial problems.
The Department of the Army was requested to furnish samples of McCoy's handwriting
from its records to the FBI Laboratory since the citizen, in a more detailed
personal interview, provided additional valuable information.
McCoy was located and interviewed by FBI Agents but denied any participation
in, or prior knowledge of, the hijacking. He freely gave the Agents a sample
of his hand printing to be compared later with the style in the note the hijacker
left behind. McCoy continued to claim innocence and was not detained.
Meanwhile, the FBI Laboratory had been busy with evidence already received.
A
handwriting expert compared the note found on the plane with McCoy's writing
on military service records and determined that McCoy had written the note.
Fingerprint specialists discovered that a latent print on the "Mainliner Magazine" found
in the seat next to the hijackers's matched a print taken from McCoy during
his service year.
Incriminating evidence mounted against McCoy. In trying to trace the steps the
hijacker took after parachuting into the rural area surrounding Provo, a lead
was developed. When shown McCoy's photograph an employee at a roadside hamburger
stand said she had sold him a milkshake at about 11:30 on the night of the crime.
In addition, a teenager stated that a man fitting McCoy's description paid him
five dollars for a ride from the stand to a nearby town.
On April 9, a federal complaint was filed charging McCoy with aircraft piracy
and interfering with flight crew members. Later the same day an arrest warrant
was obtained and McCoy was taken into custody by FBI Agents at his Provo home.
Agents examined the accused's home under a search warrant and uncovered various
articles of skydiving equipment, an electric typewriter (with key impressions
matching those on the typed hijacking instructions), and $499,970 in U.S. currency.
A federal grand jury in Salt Lake City indicted McCoy on April 14.
Two months later, McCoy, found to have acted alone, was tried in the U.S. District
Court and found guilty despite his claim of innocence. He was subsequently sentenced
to a term of 45 years. McCoy appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court,
which denied his petition on October 9, 1973.