2020 Georgia Code
Title 16 - Crimes and Offenses
Chapter 5 - Crimes Against the Person
Article 3 - Kidnapping, False Imprisonment, and Related Offenses
§ 16-5-44. Hijacking an Aircraft
- A person commits the offense of hijacking an aircraft when he (1) by use of force or (2) by intimidation by the use of threats or coercion places the pilot of an aircraft in fear of immediate serious bodily injury to himself or to another and causes the diverting of an aircraft from its intended destination to a destination dictated by such person.
- The offense of hijacking is declared to be a continuing offense from the point of beginning, and jurisdiction to try a person accused of the offense of hijacking shall be in any county of this state over which the aircraft is operated.
- A person convicted of the offense of hijacking an aircraft shall be punished by death or life imprisonment.
(Code 1933, § 26-3301, enacted by Ga. L. 1969, p. 741, § 1.)
Cross references.- Time limitation on prosecutions for crimes, § 17-3-1.
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Punishment of death does not invariably violate the Constitution. Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 96 S. Ct. 2909, 49 L. Ed. 2d 859 (1976).
Cited in Bradshaw v. State, 284 Ga. 675, 671 S.E.2d 485 (2008).
RESEARCH REFERENCES
Am. Jur. 2d.
- 8A Am. Jur. 2d, Aviation, § 215. 61 Am. Jur. 2d, Piracy, § 5.
Proof of Liability for Air Crash, 51 POF3d 81.
ALR.- Liability of air carrier for damage or injury sustained by passenger as result of hijacking, 72 A.L.R.3d 1299.
Validity, construction, and application of provisions of Federal Aviation Act (49 USCS Appx § 1472(i)-(l), (n)) punishing air piracy and certain acts aboard aircraft in flight, or boarding aircraft, 109 A.L.R. Fed. 488.
