The compelling account of the actual hijacking of Flight 601 is told in The Hijacking of Flight 601. The hijackers demand the release of 50 political prisoners and payment of a substantial ransom before threatening to blow up the aircraft. As the discussions go south, the crooks begin shooting one passenger per hour. Two flight attendants try to outwit the hijackers in the midst of all this anxiety. Can they really do that? Check it out on Netflix.
The Hijacking of Flight 601 (Secuestro del Vuelo 601), directed by C.S. Prince and Pablo González (The Great Heist), is a character-driven, retro-infused series based by one of Latin America’s longest aerial hijackings, which occurred in May 1973. The cast includes Mónica Lopera, Christian Tappan, and Enrique Carriazo.
When two armed men kidnap Aerobolivar Flight 601 for ransom and political demands, what begins as a regular flight for passengers on board becomes a nightmare that lasts for days. As the airline’s new flight attendant Marisol (Antonini) battles her nerves long before the flight descends into chaos, veteran flight attendant Edie (Lopera) puts her job in danger when she misses the flight, and Commander Wilches (Tappan), the cocky pilot, is taken down a peg when the gun-wielding hijackers Borja (Villafañe) and El Toro (Devetac) storm the cockpit.
Until their two demands—that the Colombian government free scores of political prisoners and give the hijackers $200,000 in real money—are satisfied, nobody is going anywhere. However, when the aircraft approaches Cuba, the destination of Borja’s command to the pilots, the stakes rise alarmingly when the government rejects the hijackers’ demands.
Is there a factual tale behind The Hijacking of Flight 601? Indeed. The drama is based on the events of SAM Colombia Flight HK-1274, which was taken over by two football players from Paraguay. They demanded a ransom of $200,000 from everyone on board. The genuine flight took off from Bogotá, Colombia, on May 30, 1973, much like the one in the series. The hijacking was not only the longest-lasting in Latin American history, but it was also the longest-distance, with many diversions across multiple nations.
