American Skyjacker Movie Review

“American Skyjacker” is a documentary movie, and it is based on a popular podcast. The podcast is a true-life examination of a true crime. The show is about the second-best-well-known airplane hijacker, after D.B. Cooper. Which means, to almost everyone, he is someone who is unknown…

The name that sticks with everyone, in terms of air piracy in the early 1970’s, is D.B. Cooper. A daring plan to hijack and escape with a ton of money shocked the nation in 1971. The fact that he was never identified, the money never recovered, and his whereabouts are still unknown make the story into a legend.

One person who heard the tale and decided to emulate that bold move was a man named Martin McNally. He started as minor criminal, doing small crimes and serving short sentences.  But after the 1971 event, McNally worked out his own plan. With a few like-minded friends, he came up with a similar scheme.

Many prior hijack attempts had political motives. But when the ‘profit motive’ (with DB Cooper) was public knowledge, McNally decided he was all in. It didn’t matter that he had no experience with using a parachute. He knew that the airport security was still lax, and the airlines were willing to pay big bucks.

For this documentary, many of the critical scenes were recreations of the actual events, with actor playing the real-life individuals. So, the plan started with Martin McNally (played by Logan Spahitz). He convinced a few of his friends to be in on the mission to take over a plane.

McNally’s friend named Jim Petty (played by Danté Belardinelli) would get the items he would need (guns, a wig and dark sunglasses). Another fellow named Walter Petlikowski (played by Kevin Bohleber), would act as the ‘pick-up driver’. Wherever McNally landed using the parachute with a big bag of money, Walter would be his driver.

In 1972 Martin McNally pulled off his plan. He was on a flight out of St. Louis, headed to Tulsa. He got out his gun, put on his wig and sunglasses — and declared he was hijacking this plane. He had the plane go back and all the passengers got off. The money was loaded onto the plane, in a big bag.

Before the plane could take off and McNally could use the parachute to escape – there was major distraction. One drunken guy from a local bar thought he could take matters into his own hands. He drove his car into the airport, onto the runway – and crashed into the plane’s landing gear. Flight cancelled!

Martin McNally was not deterred – because another plane was brought around. This was a similar plane model that was used in the DB Cooper incident. This is the type with rear steps that extended down – into thin air. McNally’s plane was airborne, heading to Toronto. He would not be on the plane when it landed there.

McNally made his jump from the back of the plane. But because he did not have any prior experience using a parachute, it was a very rocky first jump. On the way down, he lost his gun — and the big bag of cash. The chute opened up — and hit him hard in the face. The landing was rough.

Martin McNally, now hurting and without the money, still thought his friends would help him. Instead, they helped the FBI, and McNally was soon caught. He was sent to a federal prison.

In the pen, he was cellmate to another person who attempted to hijack a plane. This guy was Garrett Trapnell (played by Johnny Marques). Trapnell was bit of a minor criminal ‘celebrity’.

He managed to get a book published about his exploits. There was lonely woman named Barbara Oswald (played by Lisa Cole) who got in touch with Garrett and would visit with him at the prison. Soon, Garrett Trapnell sweet-talked this woman into doing something bizarre.

Barbara Oswald would hire a helicopter to fly her around. She forced the pilot at gunpoint to take the chopper to the prison. Trapnell, Martin McNally and one other prisoner were ready to escape. All that Oswald needed to do was get the pilot to land in the prison yard — so these guys could “get in the chopper”.

The pilot fought back, and soon Barbara Oswald was no more. The escape plan was over, and the boys in the yard were left waiting. But the story was not over. Barbara Oswald has a teenage daughter, named Robin Oswald (played by JJ Herz). Robin was put into contact with Trapnell, to settle legal matters.

Garrett Trapnell used his sweet-talking ways to persuade the young teenage girl to also try and force the authorities to free them. She was talked into attempting a skyjacking, with a fake bomb strapped to her chest. This was another, even more bizarre incident that amounted to nothing.

After so many years in prison, Martin McNally came to study law books in the prison library. He was able to finally make an appeal to his case. This allowed him to change his sentence to permit a chance for parole. This was something that McNally wanted no part of. But he relented, and one day he was finally set free,

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“American Skyjacker” is a fascinating journey into the past, where air travel was much different than today. The idea of taking over a plane and absconding with a lot of money was unthinkable. Until that day when it actually happened. This is a story of a copy-cat version — where in this case the truth is stranger than fiction.

Working as co-Writer and as co-Director, Eli Kooris and Joshua Shaffer lay out the entire weird story of Martin McNally. His hopes and dreams were as big as an airplane. But he served out his punishment and his world became as small as a jail cell. Getting all these details and facts make for an entertaining movie.

Also, having a real interview with the real Martin McNally is a key element. He gives his perspective on everything that happened. His view might be a little biased toward his side, but he is there to tell the facts as nobody else could do. He was not compensated for his efforts, nor will he benefit from this movie. But still, he has a personal interest to see that this story is told.

“American Skyjacker” is a documentary about the second-best-well-known airplane hijacker, after D.B. Cooper. So that means almost nobody knows about him…