How a wave of Cold War hijackings forced the invention of modern airport security

Ideas & Philosophy · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Between the late 1960s and early 1970s, airplanes were hijacked globally once every five days. This terrifying era of mile-high crime, characterized by political extremism and daring ransom demands, transformed air travel forever. It forced reluctant airlines to adopt the metal detectors and security protocols we now consider standard.

While the first recorded hijacking occurred in 1931 in Peru, the phenomenon remained relatively isolated for decades. During the 1950s, hijackings were primarily used by individuals fleeing Eastern Europe for political asylum. However, the landscape shifted dramatically in the 1960s as U.S. carriers became targets. By the late 1960s, a new era of politically motivated violence emerged, exemplified by the 1968 hijacking of an El Al flight and the 1970 Dawson’s Field incident, where four aircraft were destroyed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The American public’s fascination with the crime was cemented by D.B. Cooper, who in 1971 hijacked a Northwest Orient flight, demanded $200,000 and four parachutes, and vanished mid-flight. Although Arthur Barkley had previously attempted a $100 million ransom demand in 1970, Cooper’s perceived success inspired a string of copycats. These imitators, such as Richard McCoy, Jr., were eventually captured, but the threat they posed—including chilling warnings that planes would be crashed into nuclear power plants—made it impossible for officials to ignore the vulnerability of the skies.

To counter this, the U.S. government implemented rigorous security measures, including hijacker profiles, X-ray machines, and mandatory magnetometer screenings. These protocols were bolstered by landmark court cases like United States v. Lopez (1971) and United States v. Epperson (1972), which affirmed the constitutionality of these checks. Additionally, aircraft were retrofitted with the 'Cooper vane,' a device designed to prevent the opening of aft stairwells during flight. These 1970s initiatives established the foundational framework for the expansive security systems that define global aviation today.

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