<P> Calloway attempted to claim he was mentally ill during his trial, but was unsuccessful . He was convicted of multiple charges, including attempted murder, attempted air piracy, and interference with flight crew operations . He received two consecutive life sentences . Calloway successfully appealed the conviction for interference, which was ruled to be a lesser offense of attempted air piracy . </P> <P> The 42 - year - old Federal Express flight engineer Auburn Calloway, an alumnus of Stanford University and a former Navy pilot and martial arts expert, was facing possible dismissal over falsifying of flight hours . In order to disguise the hijacking as an accident, so his family would benefit from his $2.5 million life insurance policy, Calloway intended to murder the flight crew using blunt force . To accomplish this, he brought aboard two claw hammers, two club hammers, a speargun, and a knife (which was not used) concealed inside a guitar case . Just before the flight, Calloway had transferred over $54,000 in securities and cashier's checks to his ex-wife . He also carried a note aboard, written to her and "describing the author's apparent despair". </P> <P> As part of his plan to disguise the intended attack as an accident, Calloway attempted to disable the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) by pulling its circuit breaker to interrupt CVR power . During standard pre-flight checks, 39 - year old flight engineer Andy Peterson noticed the pulled breaker and reset it before take - off so the CVR was reactivated . However, if Calloway successfully killed the crew members with the CVR still on, he would simply have to fly for 30 minutes to erase any trace of a struggle from the CVR's 30 minute loop . About twenty minutes after takeoff, as the flight crew carried on a casual conversation, Calloway entered the flight deck and commenced his attack with the hammers . Every member of the crew took multiple hammer blows which fractured both Peterson's and 42 - year old first officer Jim Tucker's skulls, severing Peterson's temporal artery . The blow to Tucker's head initially rendered him unable to move or react but he was still conscious . 49 - year old Captain Dave Sanders reported that during the beginning of the attack, he could not discern any emotion from Calloway, just "simply a face in his eyes". When Calloway ceased his attack with hammers, Peterson and Sanders began to get out of their seats to counter-attack . Calloway left the cockpit and retrieved his spear gun . He came back into the cockpit and threatened everyone to sit back down in their seats . Despite loud ringing in his ear and being dazed, Peterson grabbed the gun by the spear between the barbs and the barrel . A lengthy struggle ensued, while Tucker, also an ex-Navy pilot, performed extreme aerial maneuvers with the aircraft . </P> <P> Tucker pulled the plane into a sudden 15 degree climb, throwing Sanders, Peterson and Calloway out of the cockpit and into the galley . To try to throw Calloway off balance, Tucker then turned the plane into a left roll, almost on its side . This rolled the combatants along the smoke curtain onto the left side of the galley . Eventually, Tucker had rolled the plane nearly upside down at 140 degrees, while attempting to maintain a visual reference of the environment around him through the windows . Peterson, Sanders and Calloway were then pinned to the ceiling of the plane . Calloway managed to reach his hammer hand free and hit Sanders in the head again . Just then, Tucker put the plane into a steep dive . This pushed the combatants back to the seat curtain, but the wings and elevators started to flutter . At this point Tucker could hear the wind rushing against the cockpit windows . At 460 knots (850 km / h; 530 mph), the plane's elevators became unresponsive due to the disrupted airflow . Tucker realized this was because the throttles were at full power . Releasing his only usable hand to pull back the throttles to idle, he managed to pull the plane out of the dive while it slowed down . </P>

Fs2004 - fight for your life (federal express flight 705)