In this episode, we return to Sept. 11 1968 and the early moments of the first skyjacking in Canadian history on board Air Canada Flight 303. The flight had arrived from Moncton, New Brunswick to pick up passengers at Saint John with a final destination of Toronto. In addition to pilot, Ronald Hollett, and second officer, Ronald Bromley, the crew consisted of flight attendants Christine Waud and Beverley Atkinson. Christine and Beverley were the first people on board to realize that a hijacking was being attempted.

According to a list released to the press by Air Canada, the passengers who boarded the Vickers Viscount at Moncton were Judie Peterson of Ajax, Ontario and her Moncton-based grandparents, George and Lilian Peterson; Mrs. B.W. Smith; restaurant owner and boxing promoter Fred Smith of Chatham and Rene Durelle, Canada light heavyweight boxing champion of Baie St. Anne. Rene was accompanied by his father and trainer, Placide, brother of the famous New Brunswick boxer Yvon Durelle, the “fighting fisherman”; Francine Levy of Toronto, and her 20-month old son Phillipe; Mrs. J.W. Sabina and Mrs. P.R. Sabina of Winnipeg; Camille Chanard of Downsview and Gerard Hennigar of Toronto. The passengers who joined the flight at Saint John were Susan Pridham, 21-year old Gary Newman, a member of the Canadian armed forces; Berta Peacock; Mike Wennberg and “Mr. Garvey,” who had arrived by automobile from Halifax.

The episode, which includes clips from recent interviews with three passengers who boarded Flight 303 at Saint John, as well as flight attendant Christine Waud and Air Canada passenger agent Charles “Bud” Cavanagh, recounts what happened once the flight was in the air and how it was diverted from its original destination to the airport at Dorval, west of Montreal. This was after “Mr. Garvey,” whose real name was Charles L. Beasley, produced a loaded revolver and demanded to be flown to Cuba. Beasley explained that he was a Black Power activist who was on the run from the Central Intelligence Agency. We next examine the peaceful outcome of the incident, the legal consequences for Charles Beasley, and its short-term impact on airport security. We conclude with a brief examination of the legal changes and security measures that eventually ended- for the most part- the Golden Age of skyjacking in Canada, but not before an incident in 1971 on another Air Canada flight led to the first successful act of aircraft piracy in Canada.

Show Notes: https://www.nothinghappenedhere.ca/post/except-for-the-first-skyjacking-in-canada