Two similar hijackings took place the following year, with hijackers demanding to be re-routed to Turkey.
Observers say hijackings are a relatively frequent occurrence in the Caucasus region and Russia.
Police received reports of two attempted hijackings of a car and a lorry in the area.
Canavan is the second security official at the FAA to leave his post since the September 11 terrorist hijackings.
United Airlines was already in deep financial trouble before the 11 September hijackings, which involved two of its planes.
The number of hijackings has declined dramatically, thanks to international maritime patrols and the arming of guards on ships.
He described the actions of those responsible for the attempted hijackings as "reprehensible".
Then, a rash of hijackings in the 1960s and '70s was followed by an effort to install doors and locks.
An air marshal is an undercover armed guard on board a commercial aircraft to counter hijackings and other hostile acts.
The International Maritime Bureau has said that better policing and improved security have reduced successful hijackings by Somali pirates this year.
According to the United Nations, there were 115 reported pirate attacks off the Somali coast in 2008, including 46 successful hijackings.
U.S. prosecutors believe Osama bin Laden -- described as the "prime suspect" in the hijackings -- was behind that plot as well.
During the debate on the measure, lawmakers talked about the September 11, 2001 hijackings and crashes of four U.S. commercial jets .
Last year's uptick in hijackings off East Africa has already spurred a number of international navies to patrol the Gulf of Aden.
None has been charged with a crime directly related to the hijackings.
For decades, up through the 1980s, some pilots carried guns on board--at first to protect the U.S. mail and then to combat hijackings.
More than 130 pirates attacks, including close to 50 successful hijackings, were reported in 2008, threatening one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
That year was also the one in which Afweyne attained notoriety as the key organizer of a pirate group that conducted two high-profile hijackings.
The hijackings account for one-third of all global piracy incidents this year and the situation is getting out of control, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Though Britain is a logical destination for hijackers seeking asylum, it is also home of the Special Air Services, a commando unit trained to deal with hijackings.
Planes operated under visual flight rules -- rules that require only limited contact with air traffic controllers -- were grounded along with commercial aircraft in the hours immediately following the hijackings.
The lack of hijackings were in part a product of an environment in which airport security was quite strict, and says little about what would happen if these countermeasures were removed.
The paper reports that Mlilwana, who admits to 30 car hijackings, is now trying to establish his credentials by returning stolen cars to their rightful owners, using his contacts outside the prison.
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James Wilkes, who runs specialist maritime risk company Gray Page, which has been involved in negotiations in several hijackings in Somalia, says it can mean daily contact with pirates for several months.
There has been a gradual easing of those prohibitions in recent years as planes hardened onboard security and the potential threats shifted from hijackings to attempts by terrorists to bring down planes with bombs.
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The Federal Air Marshal Service officially began in 1968 as the Federal Aviation Administration's Sky Marshal Program, and in the 1970s, extortion-type hijackings in the Middle East led to the deployment of some air marshals overseas.
There has been a gradual easing of those prohibitions in recent years as planes hardened onboard security and the potential threats shifted away from hijackings and more toward attempts by terrorists to bring down planes with bombs.
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In 1985, President Regan expanded the program, increasing the number of air marshals, in response to a series of domestic and international hijackings, including TWA Flight 847, in which a U.S. Navy Diver was killed and his body dumped on the tarmac in Beirut, Lebanon.
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