The Real Sam Byck All I want for Christmas is my constitutional right to publicly petition my government for a redress of grievances. —Samuel J. Byck Samuel Joseph Byck (1930 - February 22, 1974) was an unemployed tire salesman who attempted to hijack a plane from Baltimore-Washington International Airport on February 22, 1974. He intended to crash into the White House in hopes of killing U.S. President Richard M. Nixon. Byck shot and killed one of the pilots on the DC-9 Delta Airlines Flight 523, wounded another, then grabbed a nearby passenger and ordered her to "fly the plane". He was shot and wounded through the cabin door by police during the attempt and committed suicide; a gasoline bomb was found under his body. Subsequently, it was discovered Byck had sent a tape recording detailing his plan to news columnist Jack Anderson, and a review of records disclosed that Byck had been arrested protesting in front of the White House, dressed in a Santa suit, the previous December. Byck had first come to the notice of the Secret Service in 1972, when he had first threatened Nixon, whom he had resented ever since the Small Business Administration had turned him down for a loan. Byck had also sent bizarre tape recording to various other public figures including Jonas Salk, Abraham Ribicoff, and Leonard Bernstein. Letter to Jack Anderson of The Washington Post “I will try to get the plane aloft and fly it toward the target area, which will be Washington, D.C. I will shoot the pilot and then in the last few minutes try to steer the plane into the target, which is the White House.”