Wearing a camouflage, when Raffaele Minichiello boarded an airplane from Los Angeles to San Francisco on October 31, 1969, a tube protruded from his backpack.

The three-person crew and four young flight attendants present on Trans World Airlines flight TWA85 have mostly worked for only a few months. The most experienced person is Charlene Delmonico, 23, from Missouri, who has worked for the company for three years.

San Francisco is the last stop of TWA85 flight. It sailed from Baltimore and landed in St. Louis and Kansas City. Before leaving Kansas City, Captain Donald Cook, 31, informed the flight attendants of the change of rules: if they wanted to enter the cockpit, they had to ring the bell outside the door rather than knocking.

The flight landed in Los Angeles late at night. Some passengers left, others boarded a plane to San Francisco. The lights in the aircraft were adjusted to a low level so that passengers could continue sleeping. The flight attendants quietly checked the tickets of new passengers as they boarded the plane, Delmonico noticed one person, especially his backpack.

The tanned boy wore camouflage clothes, his curly brown hair bobbed, looked nervous, but acted polite. A tube protrudes from his backpack.

Delmonico moved toward the first-class cabin, where colleagues Tanya Novacoff and Roberta Johnson were guiding passengers to their seats. "What is sticking out of your backpack?" Delmonico asked them. One guessed it was a fishing rod, making Delmonico less nervous and returning to the back of the plane.

Only 40 passengers on the plane, enough room for people to spread out empty seats to recline, of which 5 members Harpers Bizarre group, exhausted after a performance in Pasadena.

Singer Dick Scoppettone and drummer John Petersen sat on the left side of the plane and smoked. At 1:30 on October 31, 1969, TWA85 flight took off from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Any passenger sleeping will be awakened because the Boeing 707 is very vibrating and noisy when taking off. 15 minutes later, the hijack began.

Charlene Delmonico was cleaning the kitchen at the back of the plane with flight attendant Tracey Coleman, 21, joining TWA 5 months earlier, when Raffaele Minichiello stepped in and stood next to them, holding the M1 rifle. "You shouldn't have brought that," Delmonico said. Minichiello gave her a bullet to prove the rifle was loaded and ordered her to lead him into the cockpit.

Dick Scoppettone was asleep when he noticed a man pointing a gun at Delmonico. John Petersen, a member of the group lying in the upper row, rolled his eyes and asked, "Really?".

At the end of the plane, passenger Jim Findlay stood up to confront Minichiello. The hijacker shouted to Delmonico: "Break!". Delmonico realized he was a soldier.

When Findlay was asked to return to his seat, Delmonico and Minichiello moved to the cockpit. She pushed the curtain aside to enter the first-class compartment and warned the two flight attendants in front: "There was a man with a gun behind me." Both quickly get out of the way.

Some passengers heard Minichiello shouting at Delmonico. He became more and more excited when he stood by the cockpit door. Delmonico remembered the captain's instructions: do not knock but ring the bell. But Minichiello was afraid of being cheated, so she did not allow her to do so. Delmonico knocked on the door and hoped the crew would notice something different.

When the door opened, Minichiello stepped inside, aiming the rifle at three men: Captain Cook, co-pilot Wenzel Williams and aircraft engineer Lloyd Hollrah. Minichiello speaks English with a strong Italian accent: "To New York".

The awakened passengers noticed the sight of the man wielding a gun. Members of Harpers Bizarre discuss how he brought his rifle onto the plane. Where will the plane be redirected to? Could it be Hong Kong? They have never been to Hong Kong so it seems quite fun.

Captain Cook's voice rang through the speaker. "There's a guy in here, we will take him wherever he wants."

Some passengers speculate they are heading to Italy, Denver, Cairo or Cuba. The crew inside the cockpit fear for their lives, but some passengers feel they are on an adventure.

No wonder many people on TWA85 think they are going to Cuba. The country has long been a destination for hijackers. In the early 1960s, some Americans wanted to flee to Cuba after Fidel Castro's revolution. By accepting American hijackers, Fidel humiliated Washington and could ask them to pay to get the plane back.

On May 1, 1960, Antulio Ramirez Ortiz boarded a National Airlines flight from Miami with a false name and hijacked the plane using a knife to intimidate the captain. Ramirez requests to be taken to Cuba, where he wants to warn Fidel of an assassination attempt by Ramirez himself. Two consecutive hijackings occurred in the following two months.

Minichiello carried guns on planes because the United States at that time lacked security at the airport. They do not check their luggage because no one has caused any trouble until the hijackings took place. A few years later, the airline industry was still reluctant to check baggage because they feared doing so would affect the passengers' experience and delay the check-in process.

"We live in a different world," said Jon Proctor, TWA staff at Los Angeles International Airport in the 1960s. "Nobody set up a bomb. They could rob a plane to get to Cuba but they didn't try to blow up the plane."

Raffaele Minichiello removed the rifle into pieces, put it in a tube and reassembled it in the toilet on the plane. Carrying the tube on the plane was "very easy" because the staff only weighed the backpack, not checked it, Proctor said.

By the time TWA85 was robbed, there were 54 hijackings in the US but no one had ever taken it to another continent.

Minichiello said he wanted to go to New York or Rome. If their destination was New York, they had a problem with just enough fuel to fly to San Francisco so they would have to stop to refuel. If they come to Rome, the problem is bigger: no one on the plane is eligible for international flight. Finally, Captain Cook told the passengers: "If you have any plans in San Francisco, you have to cancel. Because you will go to New York."

Minichiello landed the captain in Denver, Colorado for supplies. Cook informed air traffic control was restricted. Minichiello agreed to allow 39 passengers to get off the plane in Denver but required a flight attendant to stay. A small debate broke out. The pirate wanted Delmonico, who he threatened to shoot. Meanwhile, Cook wants Roberta Johnson, whom he knows best among the four flight attendants.

Meanwhile, Tracy Coleman told Delmonico that she wanted to stay. Coleman has a boyfriend in New York and can come to see him. But Delmonico knows New York will not be the final destination. "You will not be able to stay in New York. He cannot stop there, he will be arrested as soon as you leave the plane. So he will go elsewhere," she said.

In an interview after the hijacking, Coleman said she knew the risks she faced. "It's not like I want to go with the hijacker, I'm afraid that if no stewardess stays, he might not let passengers down in Denver."

Minichiello ordered Stapleton International Airport in Denver to turn off the lights when the plane landed. He did not want anything unexpected and promised to drop passengers if there was no trouble. Minichiello seems quite calm and easy going. As passenger Jim Findlay was leaving the plane, he realized he had forgotten a Halloween costume. Findlay asked Minichiello if he could return to the back of the plane to get it, he politely answered: "Sure".

When passengers got off the plane in cold and misty weather, they were greeted by a stern FBI agent and led through a dark corridor to a room filled with FBI agents who had rushed to the airport. airport to get testimony from 39 passengers and three flight attendants.

Meanwhile, the three-hour flight departing from Denver went smoothly. Minichiello sat in the first-class cabin with the gun beside her, sipping a cocktail. Only 4 others remained on TWA85: Captain Cook, Vice Captain Wenzel Williams, aircraft engineer Lloyd Hollrah and flight attendant Tracey Coleman.

The flight of TWA85 was restricted in 1969. Graphic: BBC.

The plane landed at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York in the morning and parked as far away from the terminal as possible to limit the number of people approaching the plane. But the FBI was ready, nearly 100 agents, many disguised as mechanics, were waiting in the hope of sneaking on board.

As the plane was about to be resupplied, the FBI began approaching it. Through the cockpit window, Cook talked to an agent who wanted Minichiello to come close to the window to negotiate.

"Minichiello ran up and down the aisle to make sure they were not trying to sneak into the plane," Wenzel Williams said. "He was afraid he would be shot if he approached the window."

The captain advised the agents to stay away from the plane. Just then, a gunshot rang out. Minichiello did not deliberately open fire but the gun stole the trigger when Minichiello was in a state of agitation. The bullet grazed the oxygen tank but did not penetrate it or the fuselage but crashed into the ceiling. If the fuselage is broken, it will not be able to fly.

Captain Cook shouted to the agents through the window, asking them to stay away and declared the plane to leave immediately without supplies. Two TWA captains with 24 years of experience are allowed to fly internationally, Billy Williams and Richard Hastings, on board.

"The FBI's plan almost killed the entire flight crew," Cook said. "We sat with him for 6 hours and saw him transform from a crazy man to a pretty smart guy with a good sense of humor. And then these irresponsible fools thought they could handle it. "The reason that we built for nearly 6 hours has been completely destroyed."

Two new pilots control the plane. Minichiello ordered others to stay in the cockpit, hands raised to the head. The plane quickly took off even though it didn't have enough fuel to get to Rome. 20 minutes after the plane left New York, the tension on the plane eased thanks to Cook persuading Minichiello that the crew had nothing to do with the chaos at Kennedy Airport.

Within an hour, TWA85 landed in Bangor, Maine, where they fueled enough to cross the Atlantic. Photographers and reporters gathered a lot at the Bangor airport terminal. Nearly 75 police officers made sure the press was as far from the plane as possible, in case the gunman was provoked again. On the plane, the hijacker spotted two people watching from a nearby building. Cook told the control tower: "You have to hurry. He told me that he will shoot at that building unless they leave." These two people quickly move.

Cook sat with Minichiello in the first-class cabin to talk. Cook told the story of his time as an air traffic controller for the US Air Force. The rifle was placed between them but the crew didn't try to take it because they were worried that it would incite the hijackers.

Minichiello constantly asked if Cook was married. Although Cook is single, he replies that he is married because he believes that the hijackers could not afford to hurt the married man. "He asked how many children I had and I said one. After that, he asked about the other crew members and I said they were all married. In fact, only one was married. Family ".

Tracey Coleman also spoke to Minichiello and described him as "an easy person to talk to". Minichiello shared about his family's move from Italy to the US and he had a bit of trouble in the army. He just wants to go home to Italy.

She took a nap for a six-hour flight from Bangor to Shannon, Ireland's west coast, where TWA85 refueled again in the middle of the night. When October 31 ended and November 1 began, Minichiello turned 20 but no one congratulated. Half an hour after landing in Ireland, TWA85 set out to continue its journey to Rome.

When TWA85 approached Rome's Fiumicino airport early in the morning, Minichiello had one more request: the plane had to be parked far from the station and he would meet an unarmed police. After 18.5 hours and the flight of 11,000 km, the hijacking was almost over. The New York Times at the time called it "the world's longest and most spectacular hijack".

In the last few minutes of the flight, the hijacker offered to drive the crew to a hotel as soon as they landed but the flight crew refused. Minichiello is also afraid they will be punished for not trying to grab a gun when the opportunity arises. "I have caused you a lot of trouble," Minichiello said.

After 5am, an Alfa Romeo car approached the plane. Customs official Pietro Guli volunteered to meet the hijacker. He raised his hand to his head and boarded the plane, becoming Minichiello's new hostage.

"I'm sorry for causing this trouble," Minichiello said and saved Cook's address in Kansas City so that he could write a letter explaining what happened.

Minichiello and Guli walked down the stairs towards the car, Minichiello still held the rifle. "Take me to Naples," Minichiello ordered Pietro Guli. He is going home.

Four police cars followed Alfa Romeo. The voice of the police rang on the hostage's radio. Minichiello turned off the radio and showed directions to Guli.

In the countryside about 10 km from Rome, the Alfa Romeo cuts the tail of the cars but chases it into a dead end. Two people got out of the car. Realizing he had too few options, Minichiello fled in panic.

23 hours after TWA85 left Los Angeles, Minichiello's journey ended because the robbery attracted so much media attention. Minichiello escaped into a church after taking off her camouflage and hiding her gun. But his face was so famous and Father Don Pasquale Silla quickly realized. When the police surrounded Minichiello outside the church, he asked in a slightly joking tone: "My people, why are you arresting me?".

He kept the same tone when speaking to reporters after a brief interrogation in a police station in Rome. "Why did you do that?" a reporter asked, Minichiello "answered I don't know". When another person asked him about the plane robbery, he looked confused and said, "Which plane? I don't understand what you are saying."

But the comments of friends and family revealed the reason he made the daring mission. In August 1962, the Minichiello family left Naples, Italy to go to the United States after major earthquakes. In May 1967, Minichiello, then 17, went to San Diego to enlist in the marines.

Minichiello barely spoke English and was teased by his classmates for his heavy Italian accent. Minichiello dropped out of school, meaning that he had to give up his dream of becoming a commercial pilot. He fought in Vietnam and suffered from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) syndrome after returning from the battlefield.

Minichiello's father, who had terminal cancer, knew what caused his son to rob the plane. "The battle must have caused a psychological shock to it," Luigi said. "Before that, it was always awake."

Another reason was that when he was in Vietnam, Minichiello deposited $ 800 into the marines' savings but when he returned to base at Camp Pendleton, California, he only had $ 600 in his account, not enough to back to Italy to meet his dying father.

Minichiello raised this issue with his superiors but was rejected by the complaint. One night, Minichiello broke into the shop at the base to steal $ 200. However, Minichiello previously drank 8 glasses of beer and fell asleep in the store. He was arrested the next morning.

The day before Minichiello took control of TWA85, he was supposed to stand in the military court at Camp Pendleton but defected and went to Los Angeles.

What is special is that Minichiello is considered a "hero" in Italy, where he is not described as a gunman who has threatened dozens of passengers, but an Italian boy who did anything to return to his homeland. Minichiello was due to stand trial in Italy but officials did not extradite him to the US, where he could face a death sentence.

Minichiello was prosecuted for violating Italian airspace and sentenced to 7.5 imprisonment. The sentence was reduced after Minichiello appealed and he was released on May 1, 1971.

After leaving prison, Minichiello settled in Rome, working as a barista. He married the daughter of a tavern owner and had a son. Later, Minichiello opened a pizza restaurant and named it "Pirates".