Haney brought space, history to world
Paul Haney, the first "Voice of NASA," passed away over the weekend, in Alamogordo, New Mexico. He was 90 years old. Writing for the Alamogordo Daily News, Michael Shinabery picks up on our earlier report with an interesting story of how NASA legend Kris Kraft and Haney foiled the hijacking of a National Airlines flight, back in the nearly forgotten days when unscheduled flights to Cuba, at the insistence of armed passengers, was almost a weekly happening.
The late Paul Haney and Kris Kraft were flying on National Airlines in November 1965 when Kraft said a young man announced that he was carrying a gun.
"He pulled it out and pointed it at me," Kraft wrote in "Flight: My Life in Mission Control" (Plume/2002). "Paul Haney said my face turned as white as my shirt when the boy jumped up and demanded to see the pilot."
Instead, the pilot locked the door. The hijacker then pulled out a second gun.
"He started shooting up the plane," Haney said during an interview in March.
Kraft said when the pilot made "a high-G turning descent" the hijacker fell. Kraft tackled him and Haney piled on top.
Paul Haney, the first "Voice of NASA," passed away over the weekend, in Alamogordo, New Mexico. He was 90 years old. Writing for the Alamogordo Daily News, Michael Shinabery picks up on our earlier report with an interesting story of how NASA legend Kris Kraft and Haney foiled the hijacking of a National Airlines flight, back in the nearly forgotten days when unscheduled flights to Cuba, at the insistence of armed passengers, was almost a weekly happening.
The late Paul Haney and Kris Kraft were flying on National Airlines in November 1965 when Kraft said a young man announced that he was carrying a gun.
"He pulled it out and pointed it at me," Kraft wrote in "Flight: My Life in Mission Control" (Plume/2002). "Paul Haney said my face turned as white as my shirt when the boy jumped up and demanded to see the pilot."
Instead, the pilot locked the door. The hijacker then pulled out a second gun.
"He started shooting up the plane," Haney said during an interview in March.
Kraft said when the pilot made "a high-G turning descent" the hijacker fell. Kraft tackled him and Haney piled on top.
