CBS Evening News open - 1977-10-20

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:03] This is the CBS Evening News with Walter

[0:07] Kronite.

[0:08] >> Good evening. A Frontier Airlines plane

[0:10] hijacked this morning in Nebraska is

[0:12] still on the ground this evening in

[0:14] Atlanta. It's loan hijacker and accused

[0:17] bank robber is still sticking to his

[0:19] demands which include $3 million and

[0:22] freedom for his homosexual lover. Late

[0:24] this afternoon, two stewardises were

[0:26] released from the plane, leaving 13

[0:28] hostages still aboard. David Dick

[0:30] reports from Atlanta.

[0:32] Frontier Flight 101 made its unscheduled

[0:35] landing at Hartsfield International

[0:37] Airport just outside Atlanta shortly

[0:39] after the noon hour, Eastern time. FBI

[0:42] agents and local law enforcement

[0:44] officers were stationed at points around

[0:46] the huge airport. The Boeing 737 taxied

[0:50] to a remote area near the air cargo

[0:52] terminal. There it was parked. There the

[0:55] negotiations began. The lone hijacker,

[0:58] 29-year-old Thomas Michael Hannon from

[1:00] Grand Island, Nebraska, was free on bond

[1:03] while awaiting to go on trial on a bank

[1:06] robbery charge. One of his demands was

[1:08] the release from jail here of

[1:10] 29-year-old George David Stewart, who

[1:13] was charged with the same bank holdup

[1:15] here last month. Stewart was described

[1:18] by Mobile Police as Hannon's homosexual

[1:20] lover. The jet remained parked as normal

[1:23] air operations resumed. Points to be

[1:26] negotiated a demand for $3 million. Two

[1:29] parachutes, two machine guns, two 45

[1:32] caliber pistols, and Stuart's release

[1:34] from the Fulton County Jail. The local

[1:36] sheriff said Stuart was moved this

[1:38] morning to an undisclosed location. An

[1:41] armored truck was driven into view, but

[1:43] there was no known transfer of money.

[1:45] The only concession made to the

[1:47] Skyjacker was the delivery of 16

[1:49] hamburgers, 16 milkshakes, and two

[1:52] cartons of cigarettes. The Skyjacker is

[1:54] believed still armed with a saw-doff

[1:56] shotgun. His mood described as calm, but

[1:59] at one point he warned the chief FBI

[2:02] negotiator over a two-way radio, "My

[2:04] life is next to over. I have nothing to

[2:06] lose." Late today, the careful

[2:09] negotiations appeared to be paying off.

[2:11] A man believed to be George Stewart was

[2:14] brought to the plane. At one point, the

[2:16] door of the plane opened and several

[2:18] people emerged. Then the door closed

[2:21] again. Negotiations with the hijacker

[2:23] and officials are apparently continuing.

[2:26] David Dick, CBS News, Atlanta. The

[2:29] hijacker took command of the Boing 737

[2:31] at 6:30 in the morning in Grand Island,

[2:33] Nebraska. When armed with a sought-off

[2:35] shotgun, he burst through the airport

[2:36] security area

[2:38] >> and he he pulled the weapon out of a

[2:40] suitcase.

[2:40] >> Yes. Mhm. That's right. What kind of a

[2:43] weapon was it?

[2:43] >> Well, probably a saw off shotgun.

[2:46] >> And what did he say to you? He said,

[2:48] "You you uh come any closer, he'd kill

[2:50] me."

[2:52] >> And then he rushed out the door right on

[2:54] the airplane.

[2:56] >> About an hour after takeoff, the plane

[2:57] landed at Kansas City International

[2:59] Airport to refuel for the flight to

[3:01] Atlanta. The hijacker, Thomas Hannon,

[3:03] reportedly was persuaded by a friend who

[3:05] happened to be on board to release the

[3:06] women and children. He also allowed his

[3:09] friend and a male passenger with heart

[3:10] problems to leave. 12 members of the

[3:12] Gelnik family were on board. All but the

[3:15] two fathers, Donald and David, were

[3:16] allowed to deplane in Kansas City.

[3:18] >> There was no panic. He was very calm at

[3:21] all times. Showed no emotion. Um

[3:24] there was no emotion really until they

[3:27] asked the ladies and children to get

[3:29] off. And uh

[3:30] >> what happened then? What was it like

[3:31] leaving uh husbands leaving wives

[3:34] leaving husbands and so

[3:35] >> crying? Lots of crying and children

[3:37] especially.

[3:38] >> You and your dad talk very much before

[3:39] you left this gentleman.

[3:41] >> Yeah. Uh

[3:43] >> no.

[3:44] >> We uh I asked him a couple of questions

[3:47] like what do you suppose he'll they'll

[3:49] do with us when we get here or whatever?

[3:51] And uh he really didn't know.

[3:53] >> Did he say anything to you as you were

[3:55] leaving? As you

[3:56] >> he told us to go on and that he'd be all

[3:58] right.

[4:00] I'm hoping that he still is. Many

[4:02] passengers without relatives on the

[4:03] plane left Kansas City later in the day.

[4:06] Others, like the Jelnik family, have

[4:07] said that they will remain at the

[4:08] airport until the fate of their loved

[4:10] ones is determined. Bob Jordan, CBS

[4:13] News, Kansas City.

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