Cuba in turmoil

On a warm November afternoon in 1958, Cubana Airlines Flight 495 lifted off from Miami, bound for Havana, carrying twenty souls aboard the sleek British Viscount turboprop. The skies were calm, but the political climate below was anything but. Cuba was bracing for presidential elections the following day–November 3rd. Few believed they would be democratic, with Fidel Castro’s rebels clashing violently against Batista’s regime in a country already besieged by two years of guerilla warfare. That evening, rebel bombs were set off in Havana and at least three cities in rural areas were reported to be isolated and cut off, with rebels threatening to kill anyone traveling on central highways.

Hijackers seize control

Fifteen minutes after Cubana Flight 495 passed Marathon in the Florida Keys, calm turned to chaos. Four men shed their civilian clothes, revealing rebel uniforms and pistols. The cockpit was stormed. A gun held to his head, Captain Rushkin Medrano was ordered off course, instructed to land in Cuba’s volatile Oriente province—territory controlled by Castro rebels.

The field that was targeted near Nipe Bay wasn’t equipped for night landings. Tragically, the plane plunged into ten feet of water offshore, near an American-owned sugar mill. Seventeen lives were lost, including that of the pilot. Only three passengers survived, escaping through a dislodged emergency door.

Responsibility denied

In the days that followed, confusion reigned. Castro’s representatives in Washington denied any involvement and claimed that a Cuban government fighter plane had forced the airliner down. But arm bands of the 26th of July Movement, worn by Casto supporters and found on recovered bodies, told another story. 

The hijacking of flight 495 was not an isolated incident.  It was the second hijacking of a Cubana airliner in less than a fortnight. On October 21, rebels had forced the captain of a DC 3 over Oriente to land at a camouflaged air strip.  All 11 passengers were subsequently released. Then, on November 5th, only days after the hijacking of flight 495, another Cubana DC 3 was hijacked on a flight from Guantanamo to Manzanillo with 25 passengers aboard. Days later Castro released these passengers, too, to the Red Cross. The two hijacked aircraft were reportedly being converted into bombers.

Reaction is swift despite initial attempts to preserve appearances

Flight 495 was the first international airline hijacking to originate from American soil, and its repercussions were immediate. Three hijackings in less than a fortnight caused Miami’s air traffic to Cuba to plummet. Other airlines, including Pan Am, were forced to cancel flights due to empty seats. One Cubana plane left with only a single passenger—a lone policeman. Yet ads continued to appear daily in the local press touting the delights of travel to Havana on Cubana.  In a strange twist of post-crisis marketing, Cubana even began offering free champagne and Bingo games on long-haul flights, from New York to Havana or Havana to Mexico. Prizes ranged from Cuban cigars to perfume.  Miami passengers had to look for other forms of enjoyment because the Miami-Havana hop was too short to get into the spirit of the game.

Despite FBI investigations over the years, no charges were ever filed.

At left: Miami Herald, November 3, 1958.