American Airlines Flight 444

American Airlines Flight 444

An American Airlines Boeing 727-223 identical to the one involved in the incident.
Occurrence
Date	November 15, 1979
Summary	Bombing (attempted)
Aircraft type	Boeing 727-223
Operator	American Airlines
Flight origin	Chicago O'Hare International Airport
Destination	Washington National Airport
Passengers	72
Crew	6
Fatalities	0
Injuries	12
Survivors	78 (all)

American Airlines Flight 444 was a Boeing 727 flying from Chicago to Washington, D.C.'s National Airport, which on November 15, 1979 was attacked by the Unabomber. The bomb planted in the cargo hold caused "a sucking explosion and a loss of pressure," which was then followed large quantities of smoke filling the passenger cabin, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing at Dulles International Airport. Twelve passengers had to be treated afterwards for smoke inhalation. It was later determined that the bomb was powerful enough to have destroyed the aircraft had it worked correctly.

This was not the first Unabomber attack, but it was the attack which led to the FBI investigation into the Unabomber, as airliner bombing is a federal crime.

External links

• Non-hull loss description at the Aviation Safety Network