Zitat

FedEx Flight 705, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, experienced an attempted hijacking for the purpose of a suicide attack on April 7, 1994 by a FedEx employee facing possible dismissal. The hijacker, as an employee, was able to board a scheduled flight with several concealed weapons. Once airborne he intended to kill the crew and then fly the DC-10 into FedEx headquarters. He believed that death while still an employee in addition to the choices of weapons, which were meant to conceal the hijacking, would make his family eligible for a $2.5 million life insurance policy paid by the company he was both employed by and targeted.
The hijacking was unsuccessful, as the crew was able to fight back, despite severe wounds, subdue the attacker, and safely land the aircraft.
42-year-old FedEx Express employee Auburn Calloway faced termination of employment for lying on his résumé about his previous flying experience with the United States Navy. He boarded the San Jose, California-bound aircraft, which was loaded with electronic equipment for Silicon Valley, intending to murder the flight crew with hammers and then use the aircraft for a kamikaze attack on FedEx Headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee. Calloway planned to use blunt force to kill the crew so that the injuries inflicted would resemble those occurring in a plane crash; he wanted to disguise the attack as an accident so that his family would benefit from his $2.5 million life insurance policy. As a last resort, Calloway smuggled a speargun on board in a guitar case. Calloway attempted to disable the cockpit voice recorder to cover his tracks, but the discrepancy was noted before the flight took off and the CVR was reactivated
The three-man flight crew that was supposed to fly the flight consisted of 49-year-old Captain David "Dave" Sanders, 42-year-old First Officer James "Jim" Tucker, and 39-year-old Flight Engineer Andy Peterson.
Calloway, a former Navy pilot and a martial arts expert, attacked minutes after take-off. He wounded the flight crew with hammers and fractured Tucker's skull. A lengthy struggle ensued with the flight engineer and captain. Tucker, also an ex-Navy pilot, managed to control the plane as the three others struggled in the cockpit. By means of extreme aerial maneuvers meant to keep Calloway off balance (including moments of inverted flight), the flight crew eventually succeeded in restraining Calloway. Dave Sanders, locking himself in the cockpit with the weapons, disabled the auto pilot. Heavily loaded with fuel and cargo, the plane was also coming too fast and too high to land on the scheduled runway 9. Sanders requested by radio to land on the longer runway 36. Maneuvering beyond security limits and ignoring warning messages from the onboard computer, he managed to land the jet safely at Memphis International Airport. Emergency personnel gained access to the plane via escape slide and ladder. Blood covered the cockpit interior.
Calloway pleaded temporary insanity but was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences on August 15, 1995, for attempted murder and attempted air piracy. He is imprisoned at United States Penitentiary, Atwater Federal Prison in Atwater, California.
On May 26, 1994, the Air Line Pilots Association awarded Dave Sanders, James Tucker, and Andy Peterson the Gold Medal Award for heroism, the highest award a civilian pilot can receive. Due to the severity of their injuries, none of the crew has been certified as medically fit to fly commercially after the incident.
As of February 2009, the aircraft involved still flies for FedEx and is registered as N306FE