Fugitive Returns from Cuba After 40 Years and Turns Himself in for '68 Pan Am Hijacking

One of the FBI's longest-known fugitives turned himself into federal law enforcement officers in New York yesterday after hiding in Cuba for more than four decades.Louis Armando Peña Soltren, 66, and two other men hijacked a Pan American flight in November 1968 after entering the cockpit armed with guns and...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

October 12, 2009

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One of the FBI's longest-known fugitives turned himself into federal law enforcement officers in New York yesterday after hiding in Cuba for more than four decades.

Louis Armando Peña Soltren, 66, and two other men hijacked a Pan American flight in November 1968 after entering the cockpit armed with guns and knives. They then demanded the flight change course to Havana. The plane landed in Cuba, accompanied by Cuban fighter jets and cheering crowds.

Soltren's two accomplices have previously been tried and convicted. Soltren finally decided to turn himself in, and made arrangements to do so with the FBI and State Department, citing family members who either live in Puerto Rico or Miami. He could now face life in prison. It's not known how or if the Cuban regime was involved in the surrender.

[Village Voice: 1968 Hijacker Returns from Cuba, is Arrested]

[New York Times: On Return From Cuba, an Arrest in '68 Hijacking]

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