Capt. David Sanders was the Pilot-In-Command of FedEx Flight 705, hijacked by a disgruntled fellow FedEx pilot on April 7, 1994. This extraordinary incident is believed to be the only time in aviation history that an air transport crew member ever attacked fellow pilots with intend to kill. The assailant was believed to be determined to kill the crew then return the DC-10 aircraft to Memphis using it to destroy FedEx world headquarters. Capt. Sanders, while seriously injured during the cockpit melee was able to return to Memphis and successfully land the aircraft, saving the aircraft, its crew and a potentially devastating event at FedEx.

Jim Tucker was flying FedEx Flight 705 as a First Officer when the flight was hijacked on April 7, 1994 but he was also a qualified Captain on the DC-10 and other FedEx aircraft. Tucker was, arguably, the most seriously injured of the cockpit crew suffering extraordinary head injuries and paralysis while attacked from behind as the flight was climbing to its assigned altitude enroute to San Jose, CA,  20-minutes after departing Memphis International Airport. Tucker, a talented former Navy pilot, partially paralyzed and somehow remaining conscious, performed extreme aerobatic maneuvers with the aircraft to keep the hijacker off balance. He then joined Flight Engineer Andy Peterson in the fight with the assailant allowing Capt. Sanders to return to his seat and begin returning the airplane to Memphis. Both Sanders and Peterson credit Tucker with a large measure of the successful, safe return and saving all their lives.

Andy Peterson was the Flight Engineer on FedEx Flight 705 that was hi-jacked by a fellow crewmember on April 7, 1994 nearly 5 years after he was hired in June of 1989. He flew as a Flight Engineer on the Boeing 727, then as a Flight Engineer on the DC-10. Andy began flying lessons after graduation from high school in 1973 and earned his private pilot’s license in August of that year. He enrolled in and graduated three years later with a BS degree in Professional Aviation, a minor in Management, and his Commercial, Multi-Engine, Instrument, and CFI ratings from Northeast Louisiana University. His other ratings include ATP, Airplane Multiengine Land CL-600, Lear-Jet; Flight Engineer, Turbojet; Ground Instructor. Andy was the first crew member attacked by the hijacker, suffering a devastating fracture of his skull and severance of his temporal artery. When he saw the assailant’s speargun he grabbed the spear, never letting go, which undoubtedly prevented a much more horrible outcome. Andy fought from the beginning to the end of the cockpit melee and was fortunately saved from bleeding to death just in time by medical professionals at Memphis.