The original members of the first hijacking. Frank Iszak is second from the right, to his right, his wife.
The other woman joined them during the hijacking and later married one of them.

The first hijacking of a commercial airliner took place on July 13, 1956. The word, “hijacking” hadn’t been invented yet. Nor was it a hijacking as we know it today: a crack terrorist group point their guns at the passengers and crew to make a political statement or extort money. In this case, the hijackers were unarmed and the only weapon on board was wielded by a secret service officer.

This is how the airplane looked upon arrival.

As soon as the pilot realized what was going on, he began aggressive maneuvers to keep the hijackers off their feet and out of the cockpit. These maneuvers were responsible for most of the damage and injuries.

The local Soviet airbase scrambled fighter-jets to force the plane to the ground

German and American authorities examine the plane

The hijackers were condemned to death by a Hungarian military tribunal in absentia. In the spirit of the Geneva Agreement, this assured them political asylum in the West. None of them spent any time in jail. They all moved to the United States and lived productive lives.