The History of the Saint Margaret Mary Parish Family

Hostage Experience of 1985

The Experience of Flight 847

By George Lazanzky

It was a bright sunny day, May 13, 1985 when 34 tourists left Saint Margaret Mary with Good News Travel Agency and hosted by Father Bill McDonnell and Father Jim McLoughlin for a pilgrimage through the Holy Land. Parishioners on this trip from Saint Margaret Mary's included Cy and Elaine Grossmayer, Paula Loftus, Ed and Marie Liebst, Eunice Milton, Ed and Janet Novak, Neta Slotowski and JoAnn and myself.

Following a wonderful tour through the Holy Land, we spent four days on a cruise of the Greek Islands ending up in Athens Greece for our trip home. We boarded TWA flight 847 the morning of June 14, 1985 for our flight to Rome then on to New York and our final destination, Chicago.

I was seated on the Aisle seat next to JoAnn, my wife, and Neta Slotowski on the window seat. We were about the twelfth row. About four minutes after take off while still ascending, we heard a commotion in the rear of the plane, followed by two men running up the aisle yelling. I thought and said to JoAnn, "I think we're being hijacked." After a short time, the head flight attendant, Uli Derickson, announced we were being hijacked. We could see one man had a gun and the other a hand grenade. We were told to keep our heads down and our hands over our head. Men were taken out of the aisle seats and put next to the windows.

Passports were collected; military and passengers with Jewish names were called to the first class section. At this time I realized this was not an ordinary hijacking with a quick trip to Cuba and then home. I was comforted by the fact that I had JoAnn (even though we were separated), our parish priest and friends with me.

We found out we would be flying to Beirut as our first stop. Some older women and children were quickly taken off the plane. Following take off, we headed for Algiers. About this time, the hijackers started beating the four military men on the plane. We could hear the shouting and cry of pain coming from the first class section. At this point, I knew this was becoming a very serious situation and I needed to talk with God.

After many hours in the air we were given some oranges, apples, hard rolls and bottles of water to share and pass around. It also became necessary to use the bathroom and this was accomplished by me raising my hand. After a long wait I received an OK nod only to find the toilets were already filled and the door had to be left opened when in use.

After landing in Algiers, more women were left off. Back in Beirut, and a night of terror on the plane. As we approached the airport, Captain Testrake makes the announcement that we were out of fuel and the runway is blocked and they refuse to turn on the lights, but we must land anyway. We prepare ourselves for a crash landing and I make my peace with God. After a short time the captain came on and said we had permission to land. We had just landed when we heard what we thought was a gun shot and found out later they had killed navy diver, Robert Stethem. Sometime later, twelve to thirteen terrorists armed with weapons came on board. After refueling, we again took off for Algiers.

Algiers was a time for JoAnn and I to say goodbye to each other as she was released with the remaining women on the plane. She came back to say goodbye to the rest of the men in our tour group. The plane was on the ground overnight. The next morning, Father Bill McDonnell and several of the older men were released.

Saying goodbye to my wife was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life. Two days on the plane had been building up to this and I had seen other wives leave the plane. I knew at home she would be well taken care of by family and friends, and I was thankful for that.

Back to Beirut with thirty nine men and a crew of three. Upon landing, we parked in a remote part of the airport until dark when we were removed silently by truck into town. We were unloaded and marched into an underground garage and lined up against a wall. Once again, I thought and asked God if this was it. It wasn't. I was put into a group with seven other great guys in a small apartment. We became known as the "crazy eights", after the card game, which we played constantly. We became great support for each other. Our days were pretty routine, our food was chicken, chicken and more chicken from the airport. I thought about home, a lot.

A few days before our release, Jay Levine, a Channel 2 TV(CBS) reporter, arranged a telephone call home for several Chicago area guys. Waiting my turn and hearing my call being placed I became very nervous and couldn't even say hello. I finally got it out. I never thought a voice could sound so good as when I heard JoAnn's. Waiting in the school yard for our release became two days filled with emotional highs and lows. But finally, we were on our way home through Damascus, Syria and Frankfort, Germany. When I reunited with my family, friends and community and attending Mass on the 4th of July, I knew I was finally home.

The Algonquin Community Mass and Picnic Celebration at Saint Margaret Mary made me proud to be a Catholic, an Algonquinite and an American.