TWA Flight 355

TWA Flight 355 was an international Trans World Airlines flight which was hijacked by five members of the Croatian Freedom Fighters, a group seeking Croatian independence from Yugoslavia, on September 10, 1976.

The plane, a Boeing 727, took off from New York's LaGuardia Airport and was headed to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. The hijackers were Slobodan Vlašić, Zvonko Bušić, his wife Julienne Bušić, Petar Matanić and Frane Pešut. The hijackers claimed to have a bomb as they seized control of the plane in the 95th minute of its flight, but this was later proved to be false. The alleged bomb that the hijackers carried was actually a pressure cooker. [http://www.twaseniorsclub.org/memories/contrails/twa355hijacked.html TW 355 Hijacked! By Angelo Patrizio and Mike Mudge] ]

The group redirected the plane to Montreal's Mirabel International Airport where they refueled and told officials that they had planted a bomb in a locker at Grand Central Station and gave them instructions on finding it. They demanded that an appeal to the American people concerning Croatia's independence be printed in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and the International Herald Tribune. The plane was then flown to Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador where 35 of its passengers were released. [http://www.une.edu/ur/nexus/06fall5.asp Terror in the Sky - Reflecting back from 9/11] ] From there the plane was accompanied by a larger TWA plane which guided it to Reykjavik, Iceland. The plane flew over London where political pamphlets detailing the struggle for Croatian independence were dropped. The pamphlets were written by the exiled Croatian writer Bruno Bušić.

During the hijacking the bomb at Grand Central Station was found and taken to Rodman's Neck Firing Range where police attempted to defuse it. Police failed to set it off on their first attempt and its subsequent surprise explosion killed an officer, Brian Murray. Zvonko Bušić had instructed the authorities on how to deactivate the bomb, but instead they had attempted to dismantle it. [ [http://www.vecernji.hr/newsroom/news/croatia/3122499/index.do;jsessionid=D40862136EC4093E666489B54DDD905F.2 Frane Pešut on Zvonko Bušić: I don't regret even a day spent in jail] ]

The plane landed in Paris where the hijackers eventually surrendered. As the police took Julienne Bušić away the plane's pilot gave her a hug in gratitude for her calming of the passengers during the hijacking. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,918419,00.html The Hijackee Syndrome] , Time Magazine]

Frane Pešut served 12 years in prison. [http://www.voanews.com/croatian/archive/2007-02/2007-02-15-voa4.cfm?renderforprint=1&textonly=1&&TEXTMODE=1&CFID=14996668&CFTOKEN=97395634 Plain Dealer: After 20 years of legal battles Frane Pešut is deported to Croatia] ] He was deported to Croatia in 2007. Petar Matanić and Slobodan Vlašić were released along with Pešut in 1988. [ [http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Hrvatska/tabid/66/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/14098/Default.aspx After 32 years Bušić freed by his wife and the HHO] , Slobodna Dalmacija. June 8, 2008.] Julienne Bušić was released in 1990. [http://www.nacional.hr/articles/view/36577/ HHO in operation for freeing Zvonko Bušić] ]

The last remaining hijacker in prison was Zvonko Bušić. On several occasions after Croatian independence, Croatian president Franjo Tudjman appealed to American president Bill Clinton for Bušić's release or transfer to Croatia. [ [http://slobodnadalmacija.hr/Hrvatska/tabid/66/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/16224/Default.aspx Zvonko's dream became a reality] , Slobodna Dalmacija. June 24, 2008.] In 2003, the Croatian Parliament passed a resolution that Bušić should be transferred to Croatia, which it submitted to the Council of Europe. [ [http://www.javno.com/hr/hrvatska/clanak.php?id=162573 Zvonko Bušić 18 years longer in jail than others] ] The liberal Croatian Helsinki Committee also took up the cause of Bušić's release. [ [http://www.nacional.hr/articles/view/36577/3/ Paradox in the fight for human rights] , Nacional]

On June 7 2008, Bušić was granted parole after 32 years of imprisonment. [ [http://www.vecernji.hr/newsroom/news/croatia/3121625/index.do Paroling of Bušić after 32 years in prison in America] , Večernji list. June 7, 2008.] Bušić was paroled and deported to Croatia where he was greeted by approximately five hundred people at Zagreb's Pleso airport. [ [http://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/clanak/art-2008,7,24,,127772.jl Finally I'm in a free homeland] , Jutarnji list. June 24, 2008.] Among those in the crowd were Dražen Budiša, Anto Kovačević and Marko Perković as well as all four of the other hijackers. [ [http://www.vecernji.hr/newsroom/news/croatia/3132295/index.do;jsessionid=FD38123BA3A88FEC7D72E0031861A61D.2 Bušić: I am not a thief that I'd secretly return to Croatia] , Večernji list. June 24, 2008.]

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