Hermínio da Palma Inácio

Hermínio da Palma Inácio (1922, Lagoa, Faro District - 2009) was a Portuguese revolutionary against the Salazar dictatorship. Famously, he hijacked an airplane in Morocco, forced it to fly over Lisbon dropping leaflets calling for free elections. He then allowed the plane to return to Morocco, apologized to the passengers, presented all the ladies onboard with a rose, and then vanished.

He is also the protagonist of a spectacular escape from a political prison in Lisbon during the fascist dictatorship, jumping over the prison wall without having sight of the place where he would land, which almost caused his death since he landed over a prison guard. Nevertheless, he succeeded in escaping the persecution of this and yet another police officer that came in his direction alerted by the buzz of his fall. Later, he joined again the clandestine resistance against the fascism, the colonial war and the dictatorship repression.