S212: The Hijacker, Part 1 - Martin McNally

Martin McNally is going to hijack this plane and nobody, not even the FBI, is going to stop him.   In today’s episode, Martin McNally recounts his 1972 hijacking of an American Airlines flight heading to Tulsa, Oklahoma. His plan was simple—sneak a submachine gun onboard a 727 jet, demand a half-million dollars in cash, and escape with a parachute. And he almost got away with it.    Martin McNally’s story is gripping and will have you at the edge of your seat. He was inspired by the infamous hijacker D.B. Cooper. But unlike D.B. Cooper, we actually know how McNally’s story ends.   As you can imagine, his plan didn’t go smoothly. The pilot had to return to St. Louis to get the mailbags full of money. After hours of negotiations with the FBI, there was a crew change and an FBI agent, dressed as crew members, snuck on board. Then, as the plane was preparing for take off, a drunk passenger smashed his Cadillac into the nose of the plane.   By now, it should have been over. But McNally persisted and demanded a new plane. Once up in the air, McNally jumped into the darkness and disappeared with the cash.   This story was produced by Chris Knittel with the Burner Phone Podcast and was written by me, Javier Leiva.   --- FEATURED PROMO   Oh No! Lit Class   Killafornia Dreaming   --- MUSIC   The Pretend Radio theme song was composed by Joe Basile with thechicken.net   Additional music by Blue Dot Session   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices