The Hijacking Of Flight 601, is a fictionalized portrayal of the real-life incident that occurred on Sociedad Aeronautica de Medellin (SAM) Flight HK-1247 in Colombia. Created by C.S. Prince and Pablo González, the series narrates how two young men who were desperate for money came up with the plan to blackmail the Colombian government by hijacking a plane and holding the passengers hostage to facilitate negotiations. The Netflix miniseries is told from the perspective of the two flight attendants, two pilots, the hijackers, and an airline official who was negotiating with the hijackers.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Colombia was rife with hijackings, but Flight 601 stood out because of the duration of the hijack and the vast distance the plane covered. The captivating series chronicles how the crew members of Flight 601 and some airline officials bravely rescued the passengers of the plane despite facing opposition from the Colombian government. The creators of The Hijacking Of Flight 601 — one of many Spanish language shows available to stream — made some creative changes to the original story for entertainment purposes, but the series has mostly stayed true to its source material.
The Hijacking Of Flight 601 Is Based On What Happened With SAM Colombia Flight HK-1274 In 1973
The Hijacking Of Flight 601 Was Based On A Real-Life Incident
Netflix has several TV shows that are based on real-life stories, with The Hijacking Of Flight 601 serving as a great example of how sometimes fact might seem stranger than fiction. The Hijacking Of Flight 601 used the real-life hijacking of SAM Colombia Flight HK-1274, the titular Flight 601, as the basis of its story. On May 30, 1973, a seemingly ordinary day, SAM Flight HK-1274 departed from Bogota, Colombia, and made its first stop in Cali then proceeded to Pereira, where additional passengers boarded the aircraft.
According to the BBC, the plane was carrying 84 passengers, including crew members, and not 43 passengers as depicted in the limited series. Further, the plane had actually taken off from Pereira, and not Bogota. As the plane took off, the passengers and crew settled in, but little did they know that they would be going through one of the most harrowing experiences of their lives. Shortly after takeoff, two men wearing masks and carrying guns stood up and announced that they would be hijacking the plane.
The hijacking of Flight 601 served as inspiration for the novel titled
Los Condenados del Aire
(
The Condemned of the Air
) by the Italian writer Di Ricco.
The hijackers then went into the cockpit and demanded that the pilots change their destination to Aruba. When the plane arrived in Aruba, the unknown hijackers let their demands known. They wanted $200, 000 and the release of political prisoners, but their request was denied. The plane took off but had to go back to Aruba three times. The first time was because they did not have enough fuel to go to Lima, Peru, while the second was the result of other airports not having any landing space. The final time was for them to change the crew members on the plane.
During the plane’s several stops, numerous passengers disembarked. By the time Flight 601 landed in Mendoza Argentina, only the crew and the hijackers were on board. The plane made two short stops in Resistencia and Asunción, before making its final stop in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Flight HK-1274 Was Hijacked By Two Ordinary Men
Francisco Solano Lopez And Eusebio Borja Hijacked Flight 601
The as The Hijacking Of Flight 601 showed, the two men who hijacked the real Flight 601 were Francisco Solano Lopez and Eusebio Borja. Lopez and Bojar were not the guerrilla fighters they were pretending to be. They were Paraguayan men who went to Colombia in search of a better life when their soccer careers in Ecuador ended. The two former soccer forwards were going through a tough financial time and wanted to make money quickly. While down on their luck and out of ideas on how to better their finances, Lopez and Bojar came up with the plan to hijack Flight HK-1274 (via TODAY).
Their demands of the Colombian government were simple — they wanted $200,000, the release of political prisoners, and safe passage to Cuba. However, the Colombian government refused to negotiate with the hijackers because they had a policy of not engaging with terrorists. It was up to the owners of the airline to ensure that the passengers were returned safely to their family and friends. During one of their stops in Aruba, the airline officials gave the hijackers $50,000 in exchange for the release of women and children.
When the identity of the hijackers was revealed, it turned out that they were not involved with the Ejercito de Liberacion (National Liberation Party) or any other political organization. The hijacking was simply a way for them to make a name for themselves and escape from debilitating poverty. It makes sense that Lopez and Borja decided to use the ELN in their hijacking plan. The ELN was the perfect ruse because they were constantly in the media due to several arrests of artists and professors. After the hijacking of Flight 601 ended, Solano was arrested by the police but Borja was never found.
What Happened To The Passengers On Flight 601?
All The Passengers Of Flight 601 Returned Safely
Flight 601 made several stops and released several hostages during the course of the hijacking. The women and children were released first, some of the passengers escaped through a hole in the plane, and the rest were released before Flight 601 landed in Buenos Aires. The hijackers dropped them off during a stop in Asuncion and Resistencia.
When the plane landed in Ezeiza, Lopez and Borja were nowhere to be found. The hijacking of Flight 601 in the Netflix show ended after 60 long hours in Buenos Aires with all the members of the crew returning safely. The hijacking of Flight 601 has since developed an almost legendary reputation, not only because of the length it lasted or the over 10,000 miles it covered, but also due to the idea that Borja seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
How Accurate Was Netflix’s Portrayal Of The Events?
While Mostly Accurate, The Hijacking Of Flight 601 Made A Few Changes
For the most part, Netflix’s The Hijacking of Flight 601 was accurate to the true story. This is somewhat unsurprising in a way, since the actual hijacking of SAM Colombia Flight 601 in 1973 was an event that seemed almost too strange to be true. This is especially the case when considering details like Borja and Lopez’s motivations being purely financial and the reason the hijacking lasted so long was simply due to their self-professed desire to set a record for its duration.
The series did omit a few details when it came to the hijackers themselves, Eusevia Borja and Francisco López. While it didn’t factor much into the hijacking, the global press in 1973 latched onto the face that both Borja and López had met while trying to secure contracts with various professional soccer clubs in Columbia.
This is a minor detail, but the fact they’d both been trying to seek a life of fame and fortune prior to hijacking Flight 601 reveals a lot about their personalities. It contextualizes the shallow reasons they hijacked the plane in the first place. It also reveals they were both the kind of men who would see breaking such a morbid record as the longest prolonged flight hijacking as a reasonable goal. They’d both dreamed of fame on the soccer pitch, and this desire was then transplanted to a simple need to go down in the history books, even if it due to infamy rather than athletic glory.
The main difference between Netflix’s The Hijacking of Flight 601 was the final destination of the plane itself. The show depicted SAM Colombia Flight 601 finally landing in Buenos Aires. However, in real life, Buenos Aires was the third of five cities across South America that became pit-stops on Borja and López’ journey. The final landing of the real SAM Colombia Flight 601 was actually in Paraguay, in the city of Ascunción.
Between Ascunción and Buenos Aires, the flight also touched down in the Argentinian city of Resistencia. This is where Borja was believed to have departed. However, the real Francisco López was on the plane when it made its final stop in Ascunción, and was arrested at the city’s Silvio Pettirossi International Airport.
Of course, the other difference is the specific conversations and events that took place on the flight itself. However, since it’s impossible to know exactly what happened when the flight was in the air, The Hijacking of Flight 601 can hardly be faulted by filling the void with some fictional events that turned the true story into a compelling narrative.
Sources: TODAY, BBC
