This article is part of an effort to resurface Globe readers’ most loved stories or timeless reports you might have missed. It was originally published on May 20, 2020. It was updated on April 24, 2025, with new art and a new headline, but is otherwise unchanged.
They sprinted across Newark Airport, two middle-aged men desperately trying to make their 7:30 p.m. shuttle home to Boston. By the time they managed to get aboard Eastern Airlines Flight 1320, lugging their carry-on bags, they were both sweating. As the stewardess secured the passenger door behind them, Lloyd Pedersen looked back to his colleague and said, “How lucky are we?”
This shuttle flight on Saint Patrick’s Day 1970 was less than two-thirds full. But because it was unassigned seating and most of the passengers had congregated toward the front, the two late arrivals had to keep walking past lots of weary businessmen in suits and loosened ties before they found seats together.
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Eastern Airlines flight 1320 and the hijacking that changed America. (Produced by Anush Elbakyan/Globe Staff)
General Electric employees Al Cavalieri (left) and Lloyd Pedersen were the last passengers to board the flight headed to Boston.handout
The three stewardesses on the flight were, from left, Arlene Albino, Christine Peterson, and Sandy Saltzer.
Elizabeth Jones/Globe File
A DC-9 cockpit makes for a tight fit, even with just a pilot and copilot.Cory W. Watts
Flight 1320 copilot Jim Hartley (left) and pilot Bob Wilbur, pictured with wife Anita, a former Eastern Airlines stewardess.Hartley photograph from AP
To some on the flight, John Divivo, a 27-year-old from New Jersey, looked like just another hippie. Associated Press
Peggy Coyle was headed back to the dorm at Boston College, after a quick visit to her parents in New Jersey.
After recovering from surgery at Mass. General, Divivo underwent psychiatric evaluation while police investigated his motivations.Joseph Dennehy/Globe Staff
Captain Bob Wilbur, eager to move past the incident, would return to the cockpit for Eastern Airlines. From the Wilbur family
In Divivo’s checked luggage, a State Police detective found occult books and a homemade tombstone.State Police Detective Dick Davis
EPILOGUE: The Years Since Eastern Airlines Flight 1320
Top row, from left: Lloyd Pedersen, Sandy Saltzer, and Bob Wilbur. Bottom row, from left: Arlene Albino and Dick Davis.Albino and Wilbur by Denise Drower Swidey, Pedersen by Webb Chappell, Davis by Neil Swidey
Jim Hartley's grave in Florida, which Bob Wilbur has visited to pay his respects. Robert Wilbur III
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