Eugene Airport - Incidents and Accidents

Incidents and Accidents

• On May 2, 1986, a Horizon Air Fairchild Metroliner was hijacked during a flight from Eugene to Portland. The flight was carrying 12 passengers and 2 pilots when it was hijacked by Douglas Burton Thomas, an unemployed Oklahoma man who was checking into a rehabilitation center in Eugene. The pilots then convinced the hijacker to allow the plane to stop in Hillsboro, where the pilot then left the plane and called the FBI. The hijacker then held passengers and crew hostage on the aircraft while he demanded fuel, drinking water, and four parachutes and threatened to kill one passenger or blow up the plane if these demands were not met. During negotiations with the FBI, four of the passengers were released shortly and the remainder about half an hour later. This left the hijacker alone on the aircraft, however he surrendered about 15 minutes later. It was later discovered that the hijacker had boarded the aircraft without a ticket.
• An American Airlines flight from San Jose to Seattle made an emergency landing in Eugene after sever vibrations were observed during the flight. Of the 31 passengers on board, there were no injuries reported and the passengers were flown to their destinations on other airlines.