- [Narrator] In Beirut armed
extremists seize a plane to make a political statement. They terrorize the crew and passengers, including two US citizens. As attacks increase
against Americans abroad, the FBI and the CIA
undertake a daring operation to a arrest a hijacker and
to send a powerful message to terrorists everywhere. (tense dramatic music) (woman screaming) (sirens blaring) (technology beeping) (tense dramatic music) - In the 1980s, the United States faced a deadly new enemy abroad, an expanding network of terrorists targeting American interests. Hundreds of innocent people were killed in bombings, executions and hijackings. I'm Jim Kallstrom, former head
of the FBI's New York office. As the violence escalated,
the US government responded with new laws, laws that
gave the FBI broader powers to go after these radical extremists. This is the story of one
of the FBI's first cases in the war on terrorism, a war that started long
before September 11th. - [Flight Attendant] Hi, there. How are you doing today? Seat 14, enjoy your flight. - [Narrator] June 11th, 1985. 66 Passengers, including an
American university professor and his son, board Royal
Jordanian Air flight 402 from Beirut, Lebanon to Amman, Jordan. (gunshots blasting) (passengers screaming) (gunshots blasting) A gang of heavily armed terrorists overpowers the passengers and crew. They force flight attendants to identify undercover sky marshals to
prevent them from intervening. (passengers exclaiming) The lead hijacker forces
his way into the cockpit and orders the crew to take off. (plane engines roaring) Once in the air, he demands that the captain fly to Tunis. The captain does not speak Arabic. His copilot translates. (hijacker and copilot speaking Arabic) The hijacker wants to force a meeting with the Lebanese ambassador and the chairman of the
Arab League, Chedli Klibi. The goal, to make demands,
including the removal of 20,000 Palestinians from Lebanon. As the plane flies toward Tunis, the terrorists beat and
torture the sky marshals. They appear to have complete control until the aircraft finally
enters Tunisian airspace. Former member of the FBI's
international terrorism squad, Special Agent Tom Hansen. - They were denied landing authority, and in fact, the Tunisian authorities blocked the runaways with
fuel and water trucks. The main hijacker had conversations over the aircraft radio with the tower. This went back and forth for
an extended period of time, and he was simply unable
to break the Tunisian will to allow the aircraft to land. (hijacker speaking Arabic) - [Narrator] Unable to force a meeting with Arab League chairman Chedli Klibi, the hijacker reads his
statement to the control tower. (hijacker speaking Arabic) The aircraft continues to
circle the Tunis airport, becoming dangerously low on fuel. (hijacker speaking Arabic) The pilot convinces the lead hijacker that to avoid crashing, they must fly to Palermo, Italy to refuel. (hijacker speaking Arabic) - Tell him we're dangerously low on fuel. We're gonna land in Palermo. (hijacker and copilot speaking Arabic) - [Narrator] Flight 402
approaches the Italian airport, but the captain cannot land. The runways there are also blocked. - I've got 70 people on this plane. (hijacker speaking Arabic) - [Narrator] He informs the
air traffic control that they must either allow the plane to land, or clean up the wreckage. - Tell him it's clear,
we can land here now. - [Narrator] The tower finally complies. - Tell him we're landing the plane. (hijacker and copilot speaking Arabic) (dramatic tense music) - [Narrator] Once they are on the ground, the hijackers demand that
the plane be refueled. Airport authorities at Palermo refuse. The Italians stall for time
with a simple deception. - They notified the
flight deck that they had, they had notified the Arab League, and that they were making all
attempts and felt confident that they could get Chedli Klibi to travel from Tunis to Palermo to
meet with the hijackers. (hijacker speaking Arabic) - [Narrator] The hijacker is suspicious. Why would Chedli Klibi travel to Palermo, when he refused to meet
him at Tunis airport? (pilot copilot and hijacker arguing) After an hour of waiting,
the hijacker tells the tower that he will throw two
children from the plane if airport authorities do not
send out a refueling truck. - [Hijacker] Okay, okay, okay. (tense dramatic music) - [Narrator] 10 minutes later, flight 402 is refueled
and heading back to Tunis. For the second time in one day, the plane circles above
Tunis international airport. The captain tells the
tower that the hijacker wants to read his statement
on Tunisian radio, the state-run network. The air traffic controller responds that they cannot patch him through. They don't have the equipment. - [Pilot] He doesn't
even speak English, okay? - [Narrator] To appease the hijacker, the captain lies to him and tells him the tower has agreed to
broadcast his statement. (hijacker speaking Arabic) Flight 402 returns to Beirut
international airport. (airplane engines roaring) Another terrorist boards the plane. He orders a few children and
elderly passengers to leave. - Don't do it, please don't take them. (children exclaiming) - [Narrator] He relays a
message from a superior instructing the lead hijacker to fly over Jordan and Syria to
read their proclamation. The plane again takes off, but after spending more
than 24 hours in the air, the lead hijacker decides to turn back. - He did not feel that they were getting a bang for their buck, so to speak. So the aircraft never went to Jordan and never went to Syria. - [Narrator] The aircraft
circles Lebanon for several hours before finally landing in Beirut. Determined to get their message across, the hijackers rigged
the nose of the aircraft with plastic explosives. At 9:00 AM, the lead
hijacker calls the tower. He vows that if 20,000
Palestinian refugees are not expelled from Lebanon
by 2:00 that afternoon, he will kill the remaining hostages. (hijacker shouting in Arabic) In Beirut, gunmen rig the cockpit of a hijacked plane with explosives. Aboard are 66 passengers, including two United States citizens,
and nine crew members. The hijackers tell the
tower that they will kill all the hostages if the
government does not expel more than 20,000 Palestinians
from Lebanon by 2:00 PM. (hijacker and air traffic
controller arguing) FBI Special Agent Tom Hanson. - Without any real notice, the passengers were
ordered off the aircraft and instructed to enter
into the terminal building. - [Narrator] Inexplicably,
their 30-hour nightmare is over. The hijackers place
hand-grenades around the cabin. With the aircraft emptied, and in the presence of
international media, the hostage takers deliver
one more emphatic statement. (hijackers speaking Arabic) (explosives booming) US federal law enforcement agencies are determined to catch the hijackers. For the FBI, it is an historic moment. For the first time, they can
legally pursue terrorists who have attacked Americans overseas, a power they had only recently acquired. In the early 1980s, Lebanon was a country ravaged by civil war. With the central government in shambles, Christian and Muslim militias
clashed, fighting for control. (gunshots blasting) Beirut, once considered the
Paris of the Middle East, is reduced to rubble. (tense somber music) The situation further deteriorates, eventually forcing the US
Marines to deploy to Lebanon as part of a multinational
peacekeeping force. The violence only escalates. In October of 1983, a suicide
bomber detonates a truck full of explosives at the Marine barracks at Beirut international airport. The blast kills 241 US servicemen. Three seconds later, a
similar bomb destroys the French army barracks, killing 58. The bombing at the Marine barracks is the single deadliest
attack on Americans overseas. Former FBI assistant director of the criminal investigation division, Oliver Buck Revell. - The horrendous attack upon
the Marine barracks in '83, for a short time really
focused the attention of the American public on terrorism, but it always wandered off very quickly because there was not
a belief of there being a sustained level of attack
against the United States. - [Narrator] Many Americans are unaware that several radical Shiite Muslim groups have declared a
low-intensity war on the US. Their goal, to drive
Westerners out of Lebanon. The most notorious of
these groups is Hezbollah, whom US intelligence agencies suspect is behind the Marine barracks bombing. The following year, terrorism continues to plague the region. Diplomacy has failed. Peacekeeping forces
have proven ineffective, and the FBI only has the legal authority to monitor international terrorism. Special Agent Tom Hanson. - We had no real jurisdiction
to operate overseas, or to prosecute those who committed acts outside the borders of the
continental United States. - [Narrator] To give you US authorities broader international
powers, Congress enacts the Comprehensive Crime
Control act of 1984. This new law allows the
FBI to apply existing kidnapping and air piracy
laws to crimes committed against American citizens overseas. - So from that point
on, any terrorist group who took an American hostage
anywhere in the world, including aircraft hijackings, became the subject of
an FBI investigation. The hijacking of the
Royal Jordanian flight violated the anti hostage taking statute that had been passed in 1984,
for the very first time, and involved the FBI in
initiating an investigation. Even though the plane had
never been in the United States and it was not a us carrier,
there were Americans on board, they were held hostage, and therefore the statute was violated. - [Narrator] Tom Hanson becomes
the lead agent on the case. - The actual investigation regarding the hijacking of Royal Jordanian 402 started off as a basic intelligence effort to gather as much information as possible. - [Narrator] The FBI
knows the two most active terrorist groups in Beirut are Hezbollah and the Amal militia, another Shia faction formed during the civil war. - This here is the plane. - [Narrator] They suspect
it is the Amal militia who is responsible for the hijacking. - [Tom] This here is everybody loading. - [Narrator] They control
security at the Beirut airport, giving them access to the plane. Also the hijackers' anti
Palestinian statements are typical of the group. Former FBI Executive Assistant
Director, Buck Revell. - There was a dichotomy
between the Hezbollah and the Amal, in that
the Amal wanted to remove the Palestinians from
the south of Lebanon, to send them back into
Israel or elsewhere. Whereas Hezbollah was supportive of the Palestinian movement,
particularly the PLO. - [Narrator] Both groups
use extreme measures to get their message across. Three days after the
hijacking of flight 402, four Hezbollah gunmen hijacked
TWA flight 847 in Athens, and force the pilot to fly to Beirut. - This was primarily an American flight. There were over 140 passengers on board, many of them American citizens. - The Hezbollah made a number of demands in conjunction with
this aircraft hijacking, specifically for the release of certain Hezbollah Shia prisoners, as well as certain Palestinian prisoners. Demands, which of course the United States had no control over, and of
course it was against US policy to make concessions to
terrorist organizations. - [Narrator] The hijackers
forced to TWA jet to fly back and forth
between Beirut and Algiers. At each stop, they released
women and children. In Beirut, the terrorists decide to prove they are serious about their demands. (gunshot blasting) They kill US Navy diver Robert Stethem. - They executed him in cold blood, threw him out on the tarmac there at Beirut international airport, which of course enraged all of us and caused us to rededicate ourselves that this wouldn't stand. We would go after these
people, as long as it took. - [Narrator] 39 Hostages
remain, all Americans. The hijackers move them off the plane and hold them at several
locations around Beirut. President Ronald Reagan reacts. - Terrorists, be on notice. We will fight back against
you, in Lebanon and elsewhere. We will fight back against
your cowardly attacks on American citizens and property. - [Narrator] Authorities consider possible diplomatic strategies. - There were continuous
meetings in the Sit Room at the White House. We were trying to come up with some basis to affect the release of the hostages. This was probably the most
stressful circumstance during my 12 years in charge
of the terrorism program. We were using every intelligence
means available to us. CIA assets, technical means, intelligence from allied services, through diplomatic channels. It was an all-out effort to
obtain any and all information about who was holding the hostages, where they were being held,
under what circumstances. And of course, any information
that would allow us to locate and potentially
rescue the hostages. - [Narrator] As US agencies
gather intelligence, 39 American lives hang in the balance. June, 1985. Hezbollah gunmen hijack
TWA flight 847 in Athens, and force the pilot to fly to Lebanon. They hold 39 passengers
hostage all over Beirut. The US Department of State
applies diplomatic pressure, trying to secure the
release of the hostages. Former FBI Executive Assistant
Director, Buck Revell. - We were putting pressure on the Syrians, pressure on the existing
Lebanese government. We were using surrogates
such as Egypt and Jordan. So it was really an all-out effort to use any and everyone that
might have some ability to try and bring pressure on the Hezbollah to release the prisoners. - [Narrator] Finally, President
Hafez al-Assad of Syria offers to negotiate with the captors, and convinces them to
release all 39 hostages. President Ronald Reagan gives voice to the nation's collective
sense of relief. - The 39 Americans held
hostage for 17 days by terrorists in Lebanon are free, safe, and at this moment on their
way to Frankfurt, Germany, They'll be home again soon. This is a moment of joy for them, for their loved ones, and for our nation. - [Narrator] With the hostages safe, US authorities turn their attention to finding the hijackers. FBI agents debrief the
hostages of TWA flight 847. Special Agent Tom Hanson. - Many of the passengers
were shown photo spreads of previous suspects in
hijackings, kidnappings, to determine whether or not
any of these individuals were involved in the TWA incident. Many of the passengers
identified the photo that we had of the main hijacker from the Royal Jordanian aircraft.
- This guy? - [Narrator] Hanson learns
that the lead hijacker of Royal Jordanian Air flight 402, a member of the Amal militia, guarded the hostages
from the TWA hijacking. - They gave accounts of
conversations with this individual, who admitted that he was one of the Royal Jordanian
hijackers, and asked them if they had seen the aircraft, and basically bragged about
his role in that incident. - [Narrator] Investigators have identified a prosecutable subject,
but gathering information on a Beirut-based terrorist
is difficult at best. At the time, a boundary
called the Green Line divides Beirut into the Christian
East and the Muslim West. Dwayne Dewey Clarridge is
a former division chief in the Central Intelligence Agency's directorate of operations. - West Beirut was no
man's land for Americans, or even for many Lebanese, and therefore collecting information was extremely difficult,
not only for the CIA, but also for the friendly
Lebanese intelligence services. - [Narrator] But the CIA is relentless. Embedded operatives in Beirut continue interviewing informants. Their persistence pays off. They learn where the Royal Jordanian Air hijacking suspect lives. The only problem, US authorities are powerless to go after him. - It just wasn't possible to coordinate with the Lebanese authorities
to hand over the main subject. There was no specific
government really in control. - [Narrator] Terrorism continues to spread throughout the world. In 1985 alone, there are 812 incidents of international terrorism. 926 people killed, including 23 Americans. - We had so many acts of
terrorism committed against US citizens abroad that the
President convened a task force. The Vice President's task
force on combating terrorism brought in cabinet-level
people to examine the law, the policy, and the actions
of the United States to best combat terrorism,
and to define the roles of the various agencies
so that it was very clear, and they set up means for
inter-agency coordination. - [Narrator] In January,
1986, the task force creates the Operation Subgroup, or OSG. - I'd like to be meeting
you somewhere else under different circumstances, but terrorism continues to go on. - [Narrator] This inter-agency panel is comprised of officials
from the FBI, the CIA, the National Security Agency,
the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice,
and the State Department. Buck Revell represents the FBI. - The OSG had two responsibilities. One, to ensure that
appropriate intelligence was disseminated on a full basis. Secondly, to coordinate operations against terrorist targets, whether they be groups or organizations, or even terrorist-sponsoring nations. - [Narrator] Representing the CIA on the OSG is Dewey Clarridge. Even before the creation of the OSG, Clarridge had made recommendations for improving the CIA's
counterterrorism operations. - We had to do something very different because terrorism is a
transnational phenomenon. What I mean by that is that
an operation may be planned by a group in Syria,
but carried out in Rome. Now US government, like all governments, is organized on geographic lines, no matter what agency
you're talking about, and it inhibits really
getting after the terrorists. To handle that, you would create a center where the center would operate
across national boundaries, or across the divisional
boundaries of CIA. The solution, at least for CIA, was to create the Counterterrorism Center to deal with a transnational problem, both in terms of geography
and bureaucratic turf. - [Narrator] The CTC unites operatives from each of the agencies' divisions, enabling them to pool intelligence. Dewey Clarridge is named
chief of the center. - It was a revolution. Never before had CIA ever organized across geographic boundaries or bureaucratic geographic
boundaries, on anything. - This afternoon. - [Narrator] The US is now in a position to take action against
the terrorist threat, and the OSG is at the
center of the effort. - We were looking for a target, which would do several things for us. One, we wanted to
demonstrate to the terrorists in the Middle East that we had the will and the capability of going
after them anywhere at any time. Second, we wanted to
demonstrate the effectiveness of the new law and to have
it tested in the courts. So we were looking for
proactive opportunities to essentially put on notice that the United States was
not going to be dormant. It was going to be proactive
in addressing these problems. - [Narrator] Members of the
OSG sift through intelligence on several wanted terrorists,
including the hijackers of Royal Jordanian Air flight
402, and TWA flight 847. - Coordinate our targets, all right? If you got something we don't,
we're gonna need to share it. - [Narrator] The problem is, none of the potential
targets are accessible. - That's kind of a
tough place to get into, but I assure you that I- - [Narrator] For now, all
the CIA and the FBI can do is gather information on
the wanted terrorists, and work to get indictments. Special Agent Tom Hanson. - As most investigations go, there has to be an element of luck, and ours came in June of 1987. - [Narrator] The OSG learns
that the Drug Enforcement Agency already has a Lebanese
informant working out of Cyprus. Because of his associations, they believe he could help them locate
one of the terrorists. In debriefing him, the CIA
operative learns the informant knows the lead Hijacker of
Royal Jordanian Air flight 402. US authorities may finally
have the means to capture him. in the 1980s, with the
growing threat of violence against Americans
abroad, the US government makes international
terrorism a top priority. In 1986, The Operation Subgroup, or OSG, learns that a DEA informant
knows the lead hijacker of Royal Jordanian Air flight 402. FBI Special Agent Tom Hanson. - Not only did he know the main hijacker, but they had shared a
friendship and an association over a period of approximately four years. In fact, indicated that he felt that he could get this person to travel outside of Lebanon and visit
him in another country. And this gave us one thing
that we hadn't had in the past, and that was accessibility. - [Narrator] Former chief of the CIA's Counterterrorist Center and
OSG member Dewey Clarridge. - By getting our hands on
him and bringing him back to the States and put him on trial, we would be signaling to the
terrorists for the first time that we had changed
our method of operation and we were on the offensive. - [Narrator] The informant is cooperating, but he has a few concerns. Former FBI Executive
Assistant Buck Revell. - He wanted a significant reward and relocation of himself and his family to the United States, under
the witness protection program. We felt in the inter-agency negotiations that this was a reasonable request. He certainly would be at risk if he and his family stayed in Lebanon. So we obtained authority to do that. - [Narrator] In Cyprus, the
informant tells a CIA operative that the hijacker has
left the Amal militia. - The hijacker in fact,
got into the drug business. He pursued this in Europe and other parts of the Mediterranean, so was somewhat actively involved in transportation and sale of narcotics. - He told us that the lead hijacker was interested in doing drug deals, that he had been involved in
the past in drug operations, and he thought that he could
be enticed to leave Lebanon, which was an important issue,
and go to Cyprus or elsewhere where he would be vulnerable
for arrest on our charges. - [Narrator] The OSG now believes the Royal Jordanian Air
hijacker is within reach. With the informant's cooperation, the CIA plants listening
devices in his home to record his conversations
with the hijacker. - The determination was
for him to go back and say, "I know of a major
international drug dealer who is looking to do an operation. You could bring the drugs in through, around into Lebanon, and
then set up an operation to supply this drug dealer, and
it would be very lucrative." - [Narrator] The plan
calls for the informant to set up a meeting outside
Lebanon between the hijacker and an imaginary drug dealer named Joseph. The OSG decides the
meeting will take place on a yacht in international waters. - [Tom] We did not want any
operation that we undertook to involve violations of the
sovereignty of another nation. - [Narrator] The OSG considers
whether the US military or the FBI should make the arrest. - I got good news for you,
she just handed me a memo. (gunshots blasting) - [Narrator] Former commander of the FBI's hostage rescue team, Special
Agent David Woody Johnson. - The basic plan was, if any
counterterrorism operation occurred outside of the United
States or its territories would be handled by the military. Anything that occurred
inside the United States or its territories, HRT would handle. And so now we've got a situation where we may wanna go over
and grab a guy overseas. Do you use the military
teams, or do you use HRT? And now it had been debated
at the Attorney General, Department of Defense level, and they finally
described it as an arrest. So we're gonna use the
Hostage Rescue Team, in spite of the fact that
we're gonna do it overseas. - [Narrator] They choose
the HRT because the FBI has arrest powers, and
the military does not. Members of the HRT are
law enforcement officers trained to do hostage rescue and testify in a US court of law. - The idea was to try to take him alive, bring him back here and prosecute him. So I think really the idea was to make a bigger political statement. - We wanted to make sure
that the terrorist groups and organizations, particularly
terrorist-sponsoring nations knew that the United States
had both legal authority and the will to carry out whatever operations were necessary. And we knew that it had to be done with inter-agency cooperation. This operation took a
very long time to plan. We didn't wanna violate the
sovereignty of another nation. We did not want to undertake
this and not succeed. That would send exactly the wrong message. - [Narrator] The plan
is ready to implement. The final hurdle is obtaining
the President's approval. - As I was going to
Washington National Airport to catch a commercial flight, under just a regular passport to Athens, I received a telephone
call in the Bureau vehicle from Ed Meese, the Attorney General, and he advised me and he said, "Buck, I just briefed
President Reagan, it's a go. Good luck, and I'll talk
to you on the other end." - Okay, I'll keep you posted. - No, no, no, hold on. - [Narrator] Before launching the mission, the FBI solidifies their case. - We had to recontact any witnesses that we had previously interviewed, and determine whether or not we could get a commitment from them that they would come to the United States and testify. - Talk to me if you want- - [Narrator] Several passengers
and crew of flight 402 agree to take the stand if necessary. The government now has
a prosecutable case. The plan, dubbed Operation Goldenrod, is set into motion. (helicopter blades whirring) In the mid 1980s, the
US Congress acts to give federal law enforcement
and intelligence agencies broader powers to battle
the growing threat of international terrorism. September, 1987, Operation
Goldenrod is a go. The FBI, the CIA, and the
US Navy deployed assets for the arrest of the Royal
Jordanian Air hijacker. The FBI coordinates their
portion of the operation from a command center
aboard the USS Butte, positioned in international waters, 15 miles off the coast of Cyprus. Special Agent Woody
Johnson is the commander of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team. - The crew was told that
we were just waiting for technical support
to come out on the ship to help them correct some problems. We came off carrying gun
cases and other things, and we have some pretty big agents and they don't look
like normal technicians, and they just don't look
like normal technical boxes. I remember having one
of these young sailors say something as I went by,
said, "Technicians, right." (tense atmospheric music) - [Narrator] In Greece, HRT member Special Agent Don Glasser rents the yacht where the arrest will take place. - Well it was chosen
because it would blend in, and it wouldn't attract any attention. We made some changes to it. We actually put a satellite
navigation system in, and making some adjustments
to that and put, actually put a LORAN on it, and so, electronic navigation equipment. - [Narrator] In the port
town of Limassol, Cyprus, Dewey Clarridge and the CIA team set up a command post in a hotel room. - We had a communications officer with us, and a lot of aluminum trunks of equipment, which were passed off
as photographic gear. And we had satellite
communications back to Washington, to UCOMM at STRICDOD, that's the a US Military
Command at STRICDOD. And of course, we had
communications with the Butte, with the yacht, and
headquarters was patching our communications through
to the FBI headquarters, the White House, and whoever else. Everybody wanted to be in on
this, know what was going on. - [Narrator] Under sail
off the coast of Greece, the FBI arrest team alters
the appearance of the yacht to protect the owner's identity. - [Dewey] We changed the flag from a Grecian flag to a Italian flag. We changed the home port
and the name on the hull, and we turned the life
preservers all around, which had the name of the boat on it. - [Narrator] Former FBI
Executive Assistant Director Buck Revell oversees the
Bureau's command center on the USS Butte. - We had a emergency response team. We had a helicopter turning up
on the deck, on the aft deck, ready to immediately respond
with automatic weapons and other capabilities to defend against any attempt by pirates or terrorist groups to intercede in the operation. Our concerns over the actual execution were that we could get
him to the location, international waters,
to execute the arrest. But also that we could secure
that arrest and that we could keep it from becoming an
international incident. In these type circumstances,
you never know exactly what you're going to be faced with. We were dealing with a very
fluid situation in Lebanon. We had to have the CIA
operations in place in Cyprus. We had to have the FBI operations in place on board the yacht, which
was the intercept vessel, and our command and control
and emergency response on board the USS Butte, which
was going to have to stay in international waters,
but be very close by. And since we couldn't
control the exact timetable, it had to be very flexible. - [Narrator] FBI and the CIA are ready. CIA operatives tell the
informant to call the hijacker in Beirut and tell him
everything is in place. He needs to come to Cyprus now to meet the fictitious
drug dealer, Joseph. - The hijacker bought into
this idea of coming to Cyprus to meet Joseph, who we, you know, basically manufactured
as a big drug person. Hijacking aircraft doesn't really make you much money if any, and so he
was looking to make some money. (knuckles knocking) - [Narrator] The hijacker
arrives at the informant's home, where he will stay until
the operation begins. - [Informant] Welcome to my home. - We made sure that not only
did he throw money around quite lavishly when he brought
the hijacker over in Cyprus, but he had to show him
a suitcase full of money that certainly impressed the hijacker. He got the hijacker to you
state on tape that he indeed was the chief hijacker of
the Jordanian aircraft. This is something Justice
Department wanted very much. The good news was that
the target, the hijacker, was on Cyprus on schedule. But the bad news was that we had learned that the Cypriot police
were looking for him, because somehow he had gotten on a watch list of undesirables. - Are now running around
Cyprus with a warrant on him. - [Narrator] Operatives cannot
afford to have local police arrest the hijacker in the
middle of the operation. (traffic buzzing) The CIA decides to have
the informant move himself and the hijacker into the same hotel where they have the command center set up. - Thank you. - [Dewey] I felt we could take that risk because it was a weekend, and it was unlikely that the police would energize themselves to run around, particularly to a high-class
hotel and a new one at that, searching for this fellow. (chain clacking) (tense dramatic music) - [Narrator] On Sunday morning, the informant tells the hijacker
it's time to meet Joseph. He explains that since the drug dealer can't come to Cyprus, they need to meet him aboard his yacht. The informant's brother will
take them to him in his boat. - We had to have quote,
American eyes, US eyes, on the target, on the hijacker
when he boarded the boat to be able to tell Washington
with absolute certainty, that it was the target who
was brought in the boat and so one of our officers
was located on the pier. - [Narrator] Special Agent Tom Hanson. - The boat departed with
the cooperating witness and the main subject on time, and headed out towards the yacht. (tense dramatic music) - Copy that, they're late. - We informed everybody
on the communications net of that fact, and that the
operation was underway. That also, we asked for
Washington to begin to implement the extraction of his
relatives and near relatives, sisters, brothers, and children from various places
around the Middle East, which had been part of the deal. - Yeah, all right. - We had a picket boat system
in place to act as guideposts for the cooperating
witness to navigate from. - [Narrator] FBI's hostage
rescue team commander, Special Agent Woody Johnson. - My job is to worry about the people that were working for me,
and it's still a concern that this is a double
cross, that they set us up. 'Cause see, you know, going
along with this thing, that maybe they were
sitting in a boat somewhere waiting on us and then they're
gonna come charging in on us on the yacht, and we end
up in a fight on the water. - [Narrator] For now, all
the FBI can do is wait. Undercover FBI agents await the arrival of the Royal Jordanian Air
hijacker in international waters, 12 miles off the coast of Cyprus. FBI's Hostage Rescue Team commander, Special Agent Woody Johnson. - We pre-positioned the HRT
guys on the deck, openly there, with the appearance that we're bodyguards for the drug dealer. - Get that vendor ready to go over. - [Narrator] Also on deck
are twp female FBI agents to act as diversions to help
put the hijacker at ease. - [Woody] The rest of us were
secreted in, down below deck with a sniper in the
pilot house. in the event somebody shows up that we didn't expect, or that these guys suddenly jump up and take out weapons and start shooting. We can defend ourselves. - [Narrator] Special Agent Don Glasser. - So everything looked normal in our boat. The female agents were waving to him, beckoning him to come aboard the boat. - I keep thinking, "This
seems to be too easy. Is this guy, have they set us up?" - The undercover agent
spoke to them in Arabic, told them that the boss
was down below in the boat taking a shower, and would be up shortly. We said, "Well, the
owner's going to want him to be searched for weapons,
it will only take a second." We apologize for that,
but that was business, and he didn't resist that. So the other other agent patted him down, gave him a quick pat down for weapons, didn't find anything on him. - Clean.
- Go down here. - The other agent escorted them back to the cockpit area where he nodded to me, which was a signal that
we execute the arrest. Each of the operators
came up in the cabin. He was very surprised. I'm not sure who he thought we were. He was absolutely terrified,
did not resist us. Put leg guards on him,
and we called the ship. - [Narrator] Agents send
word of a successful arrest. - All right, we're outta here. - At that point we knew that we've done what we were supposed to do, deliver the target to the Bureau. And so we closed down the
command post very rapidly, checked out of the hotel. - As soon as the arrest was made, we launched a boat from the Butte. - Butte is 900-foot ship,
so we're talking big. Jumps up over the horizon, and
we came up alongside of it, and the captain was
playing patriotic music over the loudspeaker, you could hear it. He was flying a huge American
flag off the back of it. At that point, he's telling
the crew what's going on. He said, "Finally, we're striking back, and you had the opportunity
to be a part of it." I'll tell you one of the
things, it was really a thrill and actually kinda choked me up. As we came up on the
deck there probably two, 300 of crew up on the deck, and they were cheering and clapping. And it just really was kind
of an emotional experience. - The Butte immediately headed
west in the Mediterranean to link up with the aircraft
carrier, USS Saratoga. - [Narrator] Agents interview
the hijacker aboard the Butte. - The debriefing of the
terrorist was very helpful to the US intelligence community, in getting an overall
appreciation and understanding of the dynamics of
circumstances in South Lebanon, the relationship between
the Amal and the Hezbollah, and the Lebanese government, and also the involvement of both Syria and Iran in that area. - [Woody] We transported
him to the Saratoga, aboard military helicopter. - [Narrator] FBI agents
transfer the hijacker to an S3-Viking for the long
trip to the United States. - During its trip back to Washington DC, it had to perform two in-air refuelings. Once the flight was
completed, it represented the longest flight from, continuous flight from the deck of a US carrier that the military had ever performed. - [Narrator] After a 13-hour flight, the S3 lands at Andrews
Air Force Base in Maryland. The flight 402 hijacker is immediately taken to Washington DC for arraignment. In 1989, the hijacker is tried, convicted, and sentenced to 30 years in prison for conspiracy, air
piracy, and hostage taking. - The arrest and prosecution
was the first instance of US law bringing an individual
into custody overseas, bringing them to the United States, and prosecuting them in federal court for a crime in which
neither he, nor the victim, nor the act or circumstance
ever touched US territory. It was our hope that by carrying
out such an audacious act, that we would send a very strong signal to the terrorists that
the game had changed, that we would no longer
be essentially passive, but we'd be proactive in pursuing them across the entire world if necessary. - [Narrator] Operation
Goldenrod was the first success of its kind in the US
government's new war on terrorism.
