Essay | Hijacked? The view from seat 11B

NORTH AMERICA’S ‘FRIENDLY SKIES’—My first airplane ride was in 1969 when I was 18 years old, off to visit my future brother-in-law in Pittsburgh. I wore a shirt (white), tie (Windsor knot) and a blazer (blue).  I had black wingtips on my feet. That was about as dressed up as I could get at the time.

The flight crew fed me, gave me something to drink, made sure I was comfortable and got me to where I was going safely and on time.

Since those early years I have experienced all kinds of air experiences: bush planes in the Solomon Islands, helicopters in Hong Kong, a glider and hot air balloon in Minnesota. I was on a Russian prop plane from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City once when my seat suddenly collapsed, laying me sprawled on my back.

And I was on a late-night plane from Beijing to Hong Kong that got hit by lightning during a typhoon. I don’t get scared on planes but that was a we-are-going-to-die scare when the plane went black for 30 seconds.

Apart from buying a ticket, flying today requires an investment in time and patience. You’ve driven to the airport, parked your vehicle and checked with the agent in the terminal. From there you go zombie-like through the TSA line where you may have to take off your shoes, your belt, empty your pockets, put your belongings in a container and walk through a scanner with your arms above your head.

Then you gather your stuff and head for your gate. By now you have invested 3 or 4 hours of your time traveling and you are still at the airport.

Chicago’s O’Hare airport is one of the busiest in the world, with more than 200,000 passengers a day. In 2025, the airport had a total of 8.26 million travelers.

Pat Torgrimson, still in traveling clothes, calls the airline to check on her luggage while standing outside the hotel in Quebec City. (Photo by John Torgrimson)

Over the years, my wife and I have vowed to never fly through O’Hare ever again. We have been delayed, rerouted to a different destination and flat out cancelled. One weather event will cascade down the airline schedule like a thousand dominoes falling.

Rochester – Chicago – Quebec City

Unfortunately, my wife and I recently defied our maxim of never flying via O’Hare when we flew from Rochester via Chicago on our way to Quebec City in Canada.

Our 5:30 am flight was on the tarmac ready to take off when the pilot returned to the gate announcing that a severe storm had hit Chicago and that we wouldn’t be able to land for two hours. So we disembarked.

We worried about making our connecting flight only to learn that the weather event had that domino effect, delaying all flights out of O’Hare.

We arrived in Quebec an hour later than planned only to find that my wife’s luggage was missing. She filed a claim and her belongings arrived 24 hours later.

Quebec City – Chicago – Madison – Minneapolis

Our return flight to Chicago arrived early, although it took us 90 minutes to get through Customs. But now, instead of flying to Rochester, we were flying to Minneapolis as our airline cancelled the Rochester connection. Okay, our kids live in the Twin Cities, so we thought, no big deal. We would just have to arrange to pick up our car parked in Rochester.

As we pulled away from our gate on schedule, I noticed a short, older man walking toward the front of the plane. My impression was that he was agitated about something and my hope was that he was not on the wrong plane. The man talked with the crew for a few minutes and returned to his seat, two rows in front of mine and to the right.

Still on the ground, the man made a second journey past first class to talk to the air staff. A short time later, an announcement was made asking if there was a Russian speaker on board. And lo and behold there was.

A man got out of his seat and talked with the Russian and the aircrew. A short time later, the Russian interpreter walked the man back to his seat and stayed with him for a while, sitting in the aisle seat.

The flight went on toward the Twin Cities.

(TSA.gov photo)

At about the 30-minute mark of the flight, I looked up and three men — the Russian interpreter, a man with handcuffs (turned out to be an Air Marshall) and a third man — were physically taking the Russian back to his seat. The Russian speaker stayed with the man who was not handcuffed.

Possible hijacking?

It wasn’t long after that when we began our descent. We thought, wow, that was a short flight. We landed and many of us, ourselves included, started texting our contacts to come pick us up.

That was until we saw the plane being surrounded by law enforcement vehicles.

The pilot soon made an announcement, “Due to an incident, we have landed in Madison for security reasons.”

Law enforcement boarded the flight and escorted the Russian off the plane.

Passengers were ordered off the plane and told to take their belongings with them so that the authorities could “sweep” the plane. We went into the Madison terminal but were confined to the gate area. It was about 9 p.m. Our plane was now a crime scene.

For the next few hours, law enforcement, including FBI agents, interviewed witnesses. We later learned that the Russian had tried to enter the cockpit and the pilot reported the incident as a “possible hijacking.” Most of the 150 passengers on the plane had no idea what had happened or why we were now in Madison.

While the investigation was going on, our aircrew’s shift had expired, so another crew came in from Chicago. We began re-boarding after midnight, relieved that we would finally be on our way to Minneapolis.

Just one more thing…

Now in our seats, with our belts buckled, the new pilot announced:

“Folks, you’ve had quite an adventure tonight and we are going to do our best to get you to your destination. However, we need to refuel the plane. Unfortunately, the gas man has gone home for the night and lives 25 miles from the airport. He is on his way, but it may be another 45 minutes before we can take off.”

Exhausted, we arrived safely at an empty MSP airport at 2:15 in the morning, found a lone taxi and made it to our daughter’s around 3 in the morning.

Historic hotel Chateau Frontenac along the St. Lawrence Seaway in Quebec City. (Photo by John Torgrimson)

The Friendly Sky gods were not too friendly to us: flight delays, lost luggage, a flight cancelled, a diverted plane, a possible hijacking…

Oh, by the way — we had a great time in Quebec City.

You, too, should go there.

Consider driving.

PS: The Russian man was determined to have had a “mental health crisis” and the authorities were not planning on charging him.