04/09/2025
The Golden Age of Hijacking
by Roz Doherty
Air piracy in America was astonishingly commonplace between 1968 and 1972, with over 130 planes being hijacked during this period. Happening as frequently as once a week, hijackers sought political asylum in Cuba or demanded money as a resolution to their often-desperate circumstances.
The Vietnam War had proved to be massively unpopular, the idealism from the 1960s was a thing of the past, and the mass media were stoking public hysteria. All the while, Politics was seen to be failing to end the epidemic of hijacking. Interwoven with this is the psychology of these disenchanted and desperate men who felt that their circumstances were such that the only solution was seen to be the hijacking of a commercial plane. A way out.
With self-confidence slipping into foolishness, one audacious act would influence another, like a contagious pathogen. Initially hailed as anti-heroes, the public eventually grew tired of the inconvenience of hijacking, and several proposed madcap schemes to thwart hijackers placed women at the heart of the solutions.
The Golden Age of Hijacking is multifaceted, exploring a range of conflicts that played out during this period. Hijackers felt let down by their prized national ethos, the American dream. Wife and partners were left behind to pick up the pieces. Bad male behaviour was not just tolerated but also celebrated. Passengers viewed one another with suspicion. The Federal Aviation Administration and the government did not know how to respond, ultimately causing frustration for the public.
Occupying a hybrid documentary space between image, information, and fiction, the work takes a post-documentary approach to explore an unknown yet compelling period of history and asks what, if anything, has changed.
on view on our magazine online
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