The Harrowing Tale Of FedEx Flight 705

Auburn Calloway must have had everything for her. As a former Navy pilot and graduate of Stanford University, he expected a bright future as a commercial airline pilot. However, at the age of 42, he had achieved the highest position he had ever held, flight engineer for FedEx, and feared that he would lose money for his children's upcoming college tuition after having trouble eliminating post-divorce finances. will not be able to pay for , Worse, he was due at an interrogation hearing at FedEx for potentially rigging his flight hours. If found guilty, he will undoubtedly be dismissed from the company and blackballed from any future commercial flight assignments.

On April 7, 1994, Calloway decided to take his fate into his own hands, whatever the outcome. Buoyed by a life insurance plan that would pay his family more than $2 million if he dies on the job, Calloway bought two club hammers, two claw hammers, one sledgehammer on a flight to San Jose. Claimed the jump seat with a knife and a spear. Concealed in a guitar case. Since this was only a mail flight that took place several years before the September 11 terrorist attacks, security for the crew members was quite loose.

Calloway's plan was probably to attack his usual squad, consisting only of one man and one woman, whom he could possibly tame with his weapons and extensive martial arts training, but as luck would have it, his regular squad. After leaving was replaced by a minute on his crew's day. Those 60 seconds of overtime probably saved his life, as the three-man squad that replaced him had to use every ounce of his strength to stop Calloway.

As it took off, working flight engineer Andre Peterson noticed that the cockpit voice recorder was curiously set to the "off" position, but he just fixed it and thought about it a bit more. After about half an hour of flight, the cockpit door opened, and before anyone could react, the three men were beaten with club hammers. Captain David Sanders had no idea at first what was happening, later remarking that Calloway seemed extremely calm.

Peterson and Sanders both opened themselves in an attempt to fight Calloway, but co-pilot James Tucker, Jr. was hit so badly in the head that fragments of bone from his skull penetrated his brain, causing his death. Most of the right side was paralyzed. Body. Although seriously wounded, Peterson managed to grab a Calloway branded spear and wrestle it into the hull, where Sanders joined the fight, while Tucker swung the plane to disorient the attacker.

Eventually, the two crew members subdued Calloway, but only after several minutes of hand-to-hand combat, which left all three men bloody and bruised. Sanders called for Tucker to take his place, and despite the paralysis, he put the plane on autopilot, entered the rudder, grabbed Calloway's spear, and threatened to shoot him if he left. Sanders had suffered a major brain injury that would require multiple surgeries and left him unable to fly professionally again, but miraculously, he landed the plane at the nearby Memphis airport.

Once on the ground, a SWAT team arrived to arrest Calloway and, thanks to Tucker's rolling maneuvers, were horrified to see blood covering the floor, walls, and even the ceiling. All crew members survived, although they were in no shape to fly again, and were awarded a Gold Medal by the Air Line Pilots Association for their heroic actions. Calloway was convicted of attempted murder and air piracy for attempting to hijack the plane and sentenced to life without parole.