Originally Posted by Milo Minderbinder
wasn't it Clancy who predicted the use of hijacked aircraft as bombs?
No... Clancy was simply assuming that the already-tried technique would continue to be attempted until successful. Mass-media also portrayed this technique long before Clancy used it in
Debt of Honor in 1994.
It is particularly curious that at the same time Clancy was writing this novel, the same basic scenario was being discussed as part of the panel that produced the report Terror 2000: The Future Face of Terror. The suicide hijacking scenario did not appear in the final report, but it was part of the discussions that led to it.
Samuel Byck - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Samuel Joseph Byck (January 30, 1930 – February 22, 1974) was an unemployed former tire salesman who attempted to hijack a plane flying out of Baltimore/Washington International Airport on February 22, 1974. He intended to crash into the White House in the hope of killing U.S. President Richard Nixon.
Also discussed here:
A Brief History of Suicide Hijackings - Part I
The 1981 film Escape from New York contained similar memes. This time, a lone white female terrorist hijacks Air Force One on behalf of a workers terrorist organisation, the National Liberation Front of America. She crashes the plane into a skyscraper in lower Manhattan in a cinema moment that would be repeated for real 20 years later.
This and other incidents are discussed here:
A Brief History of Suicide Hijackings - Part II
Then, in the 1990s, Islamic militants picked up the idea of suicide hijackings... attempting at least 2 such actions before 2001.
A Brief History of Suicide Hijackings - Part III