Felon Overpowers 3 Guards; Hijacks Jet to Cuba
A convicted mass murderer being transported on an American Airlines flight from the Virgin Islands to New York overpowered three guards Monday night, grabbed one of their guns and hijacked the DC-10 jetliner with 198 persons aboard to Cuba, authorities said.
Flight 626 was en route from St. Croix, Virgin Islands, to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York when the prisoner, identified as Ishmael Ali LaBeet, commandeered the plane about an hour before it was scheduled to land. He ordered it to turn around and fly to Cuba.
The plane landed safely in Havana about 8:30 p.m., and LaBeet, 37, was taken into custody by Cuban authorities, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Fred Farrar in Washington. No one aboard the plane was injured, he said.
After being refueled, the plane was flown to New York City, where most of the passengers were heading originally, said Lee Elsesser, director of corporate communications for American Airlines.
The marshals were taking LaBeet to the federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pa., because of inadequate security in island facilities.
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