Oh groan!

I just realized that I am mixing up the two incidents. When NPR said,
"crash a plane into the White House", I remembered the Cessna incident
and transferred it back to the Nixon years they were talking about.

--

Roger Long



"Gig Giacona" wrote in message
...

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...


Roger Long wrote:

They are making a big budget movie with Shawn Penn about the guy
who
tried to crash a Cessna into the White House during the Nixon
years.

Are you sure of the aircraft type? A report on White House security
lists only
the landing of a stolen helicopter on the grounds by Robert Preston
and the
attempt by Samuel Byck to hijack an airliner and crash it into the
White House.
The latter incident would certainly make an excellent movie, even
if they didn't
hype it up. The only referral to a Cessna crash I can find is the
one during the
Clinton administration.



It is a completly fictionalized account of the Samuel Byck attempt.
(if you can call it an attempt.

Samuel Joseph Byck (1930 - February 22, 1974) was an unemployed tire
salesman who attempted to hijack a plane from Baltimore-Washington
International Airport on February 22, 1974. He intended to crash
into the White House in hopes of killing U.S. President Richard M.
Nixon. Byck shot and killed one of the pilots on the DC-9 Delta
Airlines Flight 523, wounded another, then grabbed a nearby
passenger and ordered her to "fly the plane". He was shot and
wounded through the cabin door by police during the attempt and
committed suicide; a gasoline bomb was found under his body.
Subsequently, it was discovered Byck had sent a tape recording
detailing his plan to news columnist Jack Anderson, and a review of
records disclosed that Byck had been arrested protesting in front of
the White House, dressed in a Santa suit, the previous December.

Byck had first come to the notice of the Secret Service in 1972,
when he had first threatened Nixon, whom he had resented ever since
the Small Business Administration had turned him down for a loan.
Byck had also sent bizarre tape recording to various other public
figures including Jonas Salk, Abraham Ribicoff, and Leonard
Bernstein.