Skyjacker Rudolfo Rivera-Ríos

In August of 1970, Rudolfo Rivera-Rios boarded a Pan American flight bound for Puerto Rico, armed and eager to skyjack the 747 to Cuba. 

En agosto de 1970, Rudolfo Rivera-Ríos abordó un vuelo de Pan American con destino a Puerto Rico, armado y ansioso por secuestrar el 747 con destino a Cuba.

CONNECT WITH US!

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/242722224736098/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082362745798
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boricuamerican/ and
https://www.instagram.com/boricuamerican_podcast/

Big thanks to Santos Cornier for composing our intro and outro music. Check out his music here: / Muchas gracias a Santos Cornier por componer nuestra música de intro and outro. Escuche su musica aqui:

https://www.reverbnation.com/santoscornier?fbclid=IwAR1_flS4Dy8i9t6JFhrCkzW220URLKJMVPfndmi0wl7idlA82ECx6Q-wW2Q

Thanks also to the following sites for music and sound effects:
https://freepd.com/
https://pixabay.com/
https://freesound.org/
https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/

Transcript

Today we get to tell you all about Rudolfo Rivera-Rios, who has the distinction of being the first person to hijack a 747. Aren’t we proud!!! 

First, to refresh our memories, Puerto Rico has been a US territory since 1898. Prior to that it was a colony of Spain after Columbus found it in 1493. Puerto Ricans have been American citizens since 1917 and don’t need a passport to travel back and forth. It’s not unusual for Puerto Ricans to split their residence between the island and the mainland. Politically they fall into three categories: those who want to remain a Commonwealth under the US, those who want statehood, and those who want full independence. 
Our “hero” fell into this last category. 

Rivera-Rios was born in 1943 – best guess is sometime between March and end of July. He was born in Puerto Rico but at some point, at least by the time he was an adult, he was living in the Bronx, New York. He was a Puerto Rican nationalist, very interested in socialism and fighting against imperialism. In fact, in 1967, when he was around 24 years old, two people dared question his loyalty to the cause. Naturally, he shot them. Side note, I always personally find it funny that a lot of Nationalists study, live, and plot against the US while living in the US. Keep your enemies close? I don’t know. 
Anyway, Rivera-Rios was looking for a big way to call attention to Puerto Rico’s independence movement. So he came up with a plan, which he initiated on Saturday, August 1st, 1970.
That day, the 27-year-old made his way to John F. Kennedy International Airport on Long Island in Queens, New York. He had a first-class ticket on Flight 299 to San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Pan American World Airways (better known as just PanAm). He had a beard and was dressed in bellbottoms (in style at the time), a khaki fatigue jacket (IN AUGUST MIND YOU), and a beret with a Cuban flag pinned on it. That was also in style, AMONG THE REVOLUTIONARY CROWD! Later on, he would be described as looking like a, quote, “pint-sized Che Guevara.” In his possession were a .32-caliber pistol, a switchblade (like a true Boricua LOL), and a bottle containing liquid he intended to pass off as nitroglycerin (which later turned out to be water). 
We should mention that 1970 was smack in the middle of the period of time that came to be known as the “Golden Age of Hijacking” which was between 1968 and 1972. Of course, there were incidents before and after, but during that specific time, a whopping 134 hijackings took place. That’s like one hijacking every other week for 5 years!!! This thankfully led to metal detectors, air marshals, and training of airline personnel to spot and screen suspicious looking people. A note about metal detectors aka “magnetometers” (mag-neh-TOM-eh-terz).  Believe it or not, the use of metal detectors in airports only started earlier that year, on July 17, 1970 at New Orleans International Airport.  But TSA wouldn’t be formed until November 2001, after 9/11, and security was still pretty lax by today’s rubber-glove ass-probing standards. You could board a plane pretty much the way you board a bus. And your whole family could go with you all the way to the gate to see you off! That meant a bunch of extra people hanging around!
So for this particular trip, the flight was fully booked with 360 passengers. They were supposed to take off at 11pm but were delayed due to mechanical issues. Knowing Puerto Ricans, they were loud and complaining (LOL). It was late, this is New York, people are probably tired and cranky. There weren’t cell phones people can quietly bury their heads in. It didn’t help that PanAm was understaffed. The situation was pretty chaotic.  Mind you, PanAm was considered one of the best airlines in the world. Very glamourous and professional. 

But on this night, no one was watching the metal detector. No one questioned Rivera-Rios, even with his outfit that clearly made a dubious political statement. Fidel Castro was in power and thousands of Cubans had been fleeing the dictatorship for years (and if you think it’s intrusive to question someone based on their clothes, Israel’s airline El-Al knows when and where you last had a bowel movement). Finally, although there WAS an air marshal in the boarding area, his shift ended at midnight, and since the plane had not yet been cleared for takeoff, HE TOOK OFF! Pardon the pun.
So you can see how Rivera-Rios easily got past the metal detector (a government source said that he must’ve tripped the detector but since no one was paying attention he slipped through easily). Wouldn’t it have beeped? Loudly?  
Now let’s take a minute to talk about the aircraft itself. This was a Boeing 747-121, registration number N736PA, built in 1969 and named Clipper Victor. The 747 had just come out back then. In fact, the Clipper Victor was the first ever 747 delivered to an airline.  It could carry between 366 and 452 passengers.  After its inaugural flight to London, it was officially renamed Clipper Young America and put into service between JFK and San Juan. In the cockpit was an axe. I only recently found out that most planes carry axes in case of an emergency where you might have to shatter the windshield or break down a door or some panels. There’s a minor point to mentioning the axe. 
Anyway, flight 299 had 360 passengers plus 19 crew. 379 total. Very full flight. The pilot was Captain August Watkins. 
After fixing whatever mechanical issues it had, it was cleared for takeoff at 12:40am, and was wheels up at 1:07am, now technically early Sunday morning, August 2nd 1970. 
At 2:47am, Rivera-Rios (who, for some reason, is identified in a Pan Am blog as “R Campos”) got out of his seat, approached one of the flight attendants, and said, quote: “Take me to the pilot because I want to go to Cuba.”  The flight attended thought he was joking so she made a joke back saying, “No, let’s go to Rio – it’s a lot more fun there at this time of the year!” Shockingly, he was not amused and yelled back “I’m not kidding!” then proceeded to take out his gun, his switchblade, and the bottle of liquid, claiming it contained explosives (the aforementioned nitroglycerine). The flight attendant immediately complied and took him to the cockpit, where he expressed his desire to go to Havana. 
Note: this was the first hijacking on a flight where the metal detector was in operation during boarding.

The Captain remained calm, assessed the situation, and decided it would be safest to just comply. The Flight Engineer, Paul Chorbajian, evidently offered to, quote, “take the guy out,” end quote, with the aforementioned cockpit axe. But still he was like, nah, we’ll go to Havana. By the way, they knew it wasn’t nitroglycerine cuz the hijacker kept shaking the bottle. It would’ve exploded right away. It may or may not have influenced Captain Watkins that his wife was also a passenger. 
Around 5am, the plane arrived in Cuban airspace but was not allowed to touch down at Jose Marti Airport in Havana until they received permission and instructions from air traffic control.  The airport had never handled such a large airplane before! So they started circling, 2000 feet above the airport. The noise woke up Fidel Castro, and I have to wonder, with what must have been lots of money and a palace and the biggest and most comfortable bedroom on the island, how on earth did he hear this?  Did he live near the airport? That would be kinda weird, no?  Maybe it was an exaggeration. Maybe someone from the airport authorities woke him up. 
Anyway, Castro gave the OK to land and rushed to the airport, very eager to see the monstrosity, the world’s first hijacked 747!  Cuba had never received a 747 before (come to think of it, most countries hadn’t, since they only came out a couple of years before!). At 5:31am they landed safely. There was Castro, on the runway, waiting.
The plane finally came to a stop. Airport personnel brought out the staircase. However, because it was designed for smaller aircraft, it was three feet short! So when Captain Watkins and Rivera-Rios went to get disembark, they had to jump down from the airplane door opening to the top of the staircase. That must’ve looked comical…

Rivera-Rios was immediately whisked away and taken into custody by Cuban authorities. Meanwhile, Captain Watkins, Castro, and a translator walked around the aircraft, chatting. Castro asked him a bunch of questions about the 747 and worried that it might not be able to take off safely due to the shorter runway. The pilot assured him it would be okay. He also invited him to board the plane and get a little tour, but the dictator declined, saying either that he did not want to disturb the passengers or that he would probably scare the passengers – depending on what article you read.  Castro gave permission for the plane to leave Cuba.  From the articles it sounds like a downright pleasant meeting between Castro and the pilot. 
Less than an hour after landing (52 minutes to be exact, which puts us at 6:23am Sunday morning), the Clipper Young America took off, first to Miami for refueling and questioning of passengers by FBI agents, then onward to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where they finally landed at 10:45 a.m. In the end, no one was hurt and no damage was done to the aircraft. After the incident, they changed the name of the plane back to Clipper Victor. 

The next day, Monday August 3, 1970, a complaint (complaint?? Love that) on the skyjacking was filed in Brooklyn by US Attorney Edward R. Neaher, and a warrant was issued for Rivera-Rios’s arrest. The charges: “air piracy, kidnapping, and interference with and intimidation of airline crewmen with threats of force.” The warrant also mentioned the weapons he had brought on board. He was indicted (meaning formally accused) in 1971. 
Meanwhile, Rivera-Rios was thrown in a Cuban prison for three years. He was released in 1973, committed a few more crimes, and was thrown back in jail for another three years. He was released again in 1977 and decided he wanted to go back to the evil United States. So he petitioned the U.S. for a passport. They gave it to him but warned him that he would still be arrested and face those pesky outstanding charges related to his skyjacking. He didn’t care. Maybe Socialist Cuba wasn’t so great. 

On Tuesday night, March 21, 1978, Rivera-Rios, now 34 years old, arrived in Jacksonville, FL together with 5 other skyjackers. They had flown from Cuba to Kingston, Jamaica, then to Florida on a plane that had been chartered by US marshals. They were all in shackles and jump suits. It had been 7 ½ years since the hijacking. The US doesn’t forget something like that. The men went before a judge, who ordered bonds of 250k for 5 of them and 500k for the 6th. Not sure which amount applied to Rivera-Rios. They were all subject to intense questioning by the FBI.
For what it’s worth: there’s a blog posted in 2009 by someone named Antonio who said he spoke with Rivera-Rios in 1978 after he arrived back in the US. He said that Rivera-Rios told him that he quickly became “disillusioned and disgusted” by the government, who “destroyed the moral fiber of the Cuban nation for better control of the people.” Well duh. He then told a story about being approached by a 12-year-old girl who offered to have sex with him if she could have his sandwich. Literally just a sandwich. But that’s what it came to. It was horrible. Cubans were so poor because the government took everything away that sometimes prostitution was the only way people could see to survive. 
May 1978: Rivera-Rios was back in Brooklyn, New York. His case was heard in Federal District Court.  He pled guilty to one count of kidnapping and explained that he did it to put a spotlight on Puerto Rico’s independence. 
On Friday, December 29, 1978, Judge Thomas C. Platt sentenced Rivera-Rios, age 35, to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 10 years. Happy New Year! Judge Platt called the hijacking, quote “a grave offense” against the United States and also ordered Rivera-Rios to undergo a psychiatric evaluation (not sure the results of this).
We couldn’t find what prison exactly he was sent to first, but we know he did time in a federal prison in Beaumont, TX (which is about 85 miles east and slightly north of downtown Houston).  At some point later, he was transferred to the Federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, known as ADX, which opened in 1994 and where they send the worst of the worst. For example, terrorists from the World Trade Center 1993 bombing were there, a terrorist involved with September 11, and Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber) were all sent there. They spend most of the day in solitary.
In the fall of 2007, a Washington Post reporter toured ADX and spoke briefly with Rivera-Rios, who was then 64. Rivera-Rios told him, quote, “I hijacked a plane." Then he admitted getting into some trouble at prisons he was in before, including a fight in Texas. But he told the reporter that things at ADX were under control. That’s nice.
On April 27, 2020, at age 77, Rivera-Rios applied for early release based on something called a “compassionate release statute,” which basically states that under certain circumstances an inmate can get out of prison before parole or completing their sentence. Without going into legalese, basically a motion can be filed if an inmate is elderly, unlikely to break the law again, and, most importantly, have a severe physical or mental illness.  Rivera-Rios claimed that because of his advanced age, the COVID-19 pandemic, and his deteriorating health, that he should be released. We’re not sure what health conditions he was referring to, and the prison said no inmate even had COVID at that time. But he's still alive as of this recording, so we know it wasn’t terminal. 

Rivera-Rios wrote out his own appeal, in the 3rd person. Here’s a quote from his statement: “Mr. Rivera-Rios is nowhere near being the person he was 50 years ago, as he has made a dramatic change in his life for the better.”  He went on to acknowledge the quote “severity” of his quote “regretful actions” (that regretful action meaning THE HIJACKING OF A 747!!!) - but pointed out that quote “no one was physically injured or even worse, killed.” What a national hero indeed.

I wanna analyze this a little bit. I think his wording is intentionally opaque. It’s almost like he psychologically wants to separate himself from his actions.  Right? Third person sounds like you’re talking about somebody else. Or depending on the situation it sounds cocky. It should be more like, “I’m not the same person I was 50 years ago. I fucked up and am truly sorry. If I could take it back I would never have gotten on that plane or done what I did. Thankfully I didn’t hurt or kill anyone, and I hope the court can take this into consideration.” 

In reviewing Rivera-Rios’s appeal, the court wrote that his crimes were quote “indisputably violent and serious” and that the case for a life sentence is still valid.  A New York Daily News article also stated that the court was looking for anyone who was on that hijacked plane who’d be willing to testify at Rivera-Rios’s hearing. Not sure if they found anyone…that was 50 years prior almost to the day!  In any case, the important point is that on May 18, 2020, Judge Brian M. Cogan, in a federal court in Brooklyn, New York, denied his petition.

As of August 4, 2024, Rudolfo Rivera-Rios is 81 years old and imprisoned at McCreary USP, a high-security federal prison in Pine Knot, KY. 

Where he will probably die. 

SOURCES:
cr-70-594_us_v_Rivera-Rios_rivera_rios_court_events.pdf
https://www.facebook.com/PAAMUSEUM/posts/august-2-1970-the-first-hijacked-747-was-pan-american-world-airways-flight-299-n/1554011231607923/
https://www.facebook.com/story.php/?story_fbid=799290022223515&id=100064275746082
https://www.panam.org/the-jet-age/522-a-day-of-firsts-2
https://www.latinamericanstudies.org/hijackers/skyjacker.htm
https://www.tumblr.com/skyjackeroftheday/48928757373/54-Rivera-Rios-rivera-rios
https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/331052
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/moments-and-milestones-perfecting-the-people-filter-1490080/#:~:text=On%20July%2017%2C%201970%2C%20New,with%20behavioral%20profiling%20of%20passengers.
https://babalublog.com/2013/03/16/blowing-the-lid-on-a-very-old-story/
https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=jou19780322-01.1.3&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN----------
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_in_aviation
https://www.nytimes.com/1970/08/04/archives/hijacker-of-747-escaped-notice-despite-use-of-detection-device.html
https://original-ufdc.uflib.ufl.edu/AA00031661/01633
https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-rios-144
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna21043739
Prison, to the max (inquirer.com)
https://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/30/archives/the-city-plane-hijacker-gets-life-for-1970-seizure-2-shot-on-east.html
https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/
https://podcast.thepanammuseum.org/

Sept. 30, 2007, 2:15 AM PDT / Source: a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/front.htm" linktype="External" resizable="true" status="true" scrollbars="true">The Washington Post</a
Register Number: 37176-118
Age: 81
Race: White
Sex: Male
 Release Date: LIFE