He poured himself a cocktail and chatted with his captives.But things got tense at New York’s John F Kennedy Airport. Picture: The Denver Post via Getty ImagesAt 17, he volunteered with the Marines and served in the bloody battlefields of Vietnam, which almost certainly triggered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).Minichiello received an award for gallantry but was dishonourably discharged after a bizarre incident in which he attempted to steal back $200 that had gone missing from his savings. He’d been saving up for a plane ticket to visit his father, who was back in Italy and dying from cancer.He had been due to appear before a court marshal in California on October 30 but went AWOL, and the next day, wound up at Los Angeles International Airport, with a ticket for TWA flight 85 to San Francisco.Dressed neatly in a camouflage uniform and with his rifle barely concealed in his backpack, Minichiello took his seat as the Boeing 707 prepared to take off from LA.Charlene Delmonico (right), pictured with flight attendants Tanya Novacoff and Roberta Johnson, recounts the ordeal. Ms Delmonico said he was a “nice, clean-cut kid”.Minichiello faces the media after being questioned by police in Rome.Passengers had certainly noticed Ms Delmonico being led up the aisle to the cockpit by Minichiello. Ms Coleman, the flight attendant, later said he was “a very easy fellow to talk to”.The crew were finally free when the plane landed at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport. But he was always polite.” Some passengers got off and others boarded for its next leg to San Francisco. The condition also affected most of his platoon, said ex-Marine Otis Turner, who had served with Minichiello in Vietnam.“Raffaele was a great Marine, a decorated Marine,” Mr Turner told the BBC. Load Error Picture: Millard Smith/The Denver Post via Getty ImagesArmed with the loaded rifle, Minichiello approached two flight attendants in the back galley and forced one of them, 23-year-old Charlene Delmonico, to take him to the cockpit. Minichiello will be sentenced to prison in Italy and released in 1971. Born in a town near Naples, Italy, he moved with his family to Seattle after his hometown was destroyed by a devastating earthquake in 1962, a TWA flight 85 stops for refuelling in Denver during the hijacking. About 24 hours later, on the other side of the world, he was the most notorious hijacker in the world. “But it was feared that if one of the stewardesses didn’t stay aboard, he may not let the passengers off in Denver.”The plane was refuelled, and with five people on board — Minichiello, Ms Coleman, the two pilots and an engineer — it took off for the three-hour flight to New York.On the way, Minichiello appeared to relax, according to the BBC. He has saved lives.”Because the Marines gave Minichiello an “other than honourable” discharge, he couldn’t be treated for PTSD. “He was always the guy right out front. Picture: AFPThe TWA plane landed in Rome 18 hours and 22 minutes after the hijacking began, early on November 1 — Minichiello’s 20th birthday.It had been the “longest and most spectacular hijacking” the world had ever seen, wrote The transatlantic journey from New York had been smooth, with two refuel stops in the US state of Maine and in Ireland. “I probably felt sorry for him. TWA Flight 840 was a Trans World Airlines flight from Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport in Rome, Italy to Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, that was hijacked on 29 August 1969. A young ex-Marine, Raffaele Minichiello, was among those who boarded.At just 19 years old, Minichiello had already endured a lot. Raffaele Minichiello's armed takeover of Trans World Airlines (TWA) Flight 85 on October 31, 1969, would become a standout in a chaotic decade when planes were seized on a weekly basis.The origins of Minichiello's hijack – which took him and his captives more than 11,000 kilometres from California to Italy – started when the decorated US Marine was court-martialled over a burglary.Facing trial and feeling unfairly treated by the military, the Italian-born Vietnam veteran decided to flee by hijacking a plane.In late-sixties America, that was not an uncommon way for idealistic and disillusioned young men to make a high-profile exit.During 1969, there were 86 in 12 months, according to statistics from the Aviation Safety Network.Most of the hijackers had a common destination – Cuba, controlled by leftist revolutionary Fidel Castro - where they expected to be greeted as defecting heroes.For travellers aboard a hijacked jet, it meant a diversion to Havana and a long delay.Pilots were also well prepared for a sudden change of flight. As the plane approached Colorado, Mr Cook, the captain, notified air traffic control TWA flight 85 had been hijacked.At Denver airport, on the proviso authorities wouldn’t get too close to the plane, Minichiello released the other 39 passengers, and all but one of the cabin crew.Flight attendant Tracey Colman, 21, who had a boyfriend in New York, volunteered to remain on the flight.FBI special agent Scott Werner is pictured with a 7.62mm bullet that Minichiello handed to flight attendant Charlene Delmonico when the hijacking began. There were no injuries or fatalities, although the aircraft was significantly damaged, and two hostages were held for two months. Microsoft may earn an Affiliate Commission if you purchase something through recommended links in this article Italy refused to extradite Minichiello to the US to stand trial.Despite rumours about him starring in a movie about his famous hijacking, it never materialised.


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