BOISE, Idaho — A former Idaho legislator who now lives in Eagle has a remarkable story to tell about his experience as a flight engineer during a notorious airline hijacking that occurred 40 years ago.
Christian Zimmermann of Valley County was in the cockpit of TWA Flight 847 when it was hijacked by Hezbollah terrorists on June 14, 1985.
Zimmermann was called in to join the flight when the original flight engineer called in sick that morning in Athens, Greece. What started as a routine flight quickly turned into a 17-day ordeal that would make international headlines.
"Take off was normal," Zimmermann said. But the normalcy was short-lived.
Hear Zimmermann recount his personal experience on the hijacked flight:
While sitting behind the Captain and Co-Pilot in the cockpit, Zimmermann heard commotion and yelling through the cockpit door.
"All I could see was a gun and a grenade on both sides of the flight attendant that was pounding on the door, and she was not using the signal to get into the cockpit," Zimmermann said.
"So, I swung back around to the guys and said we've been hijacked," he said.
This warning gave the crew time to set up codes on the transponder indicating they had been hijacked before the terrorists gained entry to the cockpit.
"I remember saying are you ready? And they said yes, and I reached back, opened the door, and that's when all hell broke loose," Zimmermann said.
The Hezbollah terrorists threatened passengers and crew, insisting that Israel must release hundreds of Lebanese prisoners from Israeli prisons.
The plane zigzagged across the Mediterranean from Athens to Beirut to Algiers with 153 people on board. Some passengers were released in Algiers and others in Beirut.
During one tense moment, the Beirut control tower refused to let them land. In archived ABC News footage, Captain John Testrake's desperate plea could be heard: "They are beating the passengers, they are beating the passengers, they are threatening to kill them now, we want fuel now, immediately."
One of those passengers, U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem, was tortured and murdered during the hijacking.
"I heard him being shot and I heard him breathe out his last breath," Zimmermann said. "It was tragic. That's when perhaps we started realizing they feel no compunction about killing everybody."
The standoff finally ended after Israel agreed to free hundreds of Lebanese prisoners. President Ronald Reagan welcomed the hostages home, saying, "There's only one thing to say and I say it from the bottom of my heart, welcome home."
Now 85, Zimmermann lives a peaceful life in Eagle, Idaho.
Interesting side note — the movie "Delta Force" starring Chuck Norris is based on the TWA 847 hijacking.
