American Skyjacker: The Final Flight of Martin McNally

Between the years of 1967 and 1972 over 300 commercial airplanes were hijacked worldwide, with over 130 of those happening in the United States alone. This period would become known as "The Golden Age of Hijacking." American Skyjacker is the tale of a small-time crook named Martin 'Mac' McNally, who dreamed of the ultimate mile-high score: hijacking a plane and getting away with $500,000 in cash; but Mac's hijacking is just the beginning of a truly epic and incredibly wild true-crime saga.American Skyjacker: The Final Flight of Martin McNally is a ten-episode series.

Episodes

Trailer: American Skyjacker

June 15, 2020 • 4 mins

What happens when a small-time crook takes a shot at the ultimate mile-high score? This is American Skyjacker. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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I Can Do That | Chapter 1

July 21, 2020 • 37 mins

In the wake of the infamous D.B. Cooper hijacking, Martin ‘Mac’ McNally, an ex-Navy mechanic and gas station attendant who moonlights as a small-time crook, hears the details of the mysterious Cooper heist on the radio and thinks, “I can do that.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Gateway to the Sky | Chapter 2

July 21, 2020 • 40 mins

After casing airports around the Midwest, Mac decides to hijack an American Airlines flight out of St. Louis’s Lambert International Airport and demand $500,000— more than twice what Cooper had escaped with. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Free, Fallin' | Chapter 3

July 21, 2020 • 47 mins

After a vigilante derails his plans mid-hijacking, Mac must improvise a way to escape authorities with his money— and without being killed in the process. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Which Way Out | Chapter 4

July 28, 2020 • 43 mins

On the lam somewhere in the mid-West, Mac is arguably the most wanted man in America — and he'll do whatever it takes to avoid capture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Trap, The Fox | Chapter 5

August 4, 2020 • 46 mins

Mac meets another skyjacker in prison — the James Bond of career criminals — a man named Garrett Brock Trapnell. In this episode, we'll learn Trap's wild backstory as he and Mac plot an insane escape from the Supermax prison where they're incarcerated. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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The Writer, the Mother, and the Con | Chapter 6

August 11, 2020 • 45 mins

As Mac and Trapnell execute their brazen prison escape, we'll explore the motivations of the third hijacker in our story: Barbara Oswald, the woman helping them escape via helicopter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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The Legend of Allen Barklage | Chapter 7

August 18, 2020 • 37 mins

As the dramatic prison escape unfolds, we'll focus on the pilot of the hijacked helicopter — a local hero of the St. Louis area named Allen Barklage, who is forced to make a life or death decision. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Robyn’s Flight | Chapter 8

August 25, 2020 • 36 mins

After the prison escape fails, Mac and Trap are put back on trial for their latest crimes. And in a shocking turn of events, an unlikely ally demands their release at the last minute, utilizing a familiar tactic — the hijacking of another airplane. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hard Time | Chapter 9

September 1, 2020 • 37 mins

Now re-sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, Mac will settle into the rest of his life behind bars. Unless, of course, he has one more escape attempt left in him... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Zihuatanejo | Chapter 10

September 8, 2020 • 48 mins

After nearly 37 years behind bars, convicted skyjacker Martin 'Mac' McNally is released from prison into a world he does not recognize. As he tries to re-acclimate, we'll explore some of the lingering mysteries: Why did Mac do it? Why did he return to St. Louis? And where does he go from here? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Special Preview Episode: Elizabeth the First. Control.

November 22, 2022 • 24 mins

Here’s your special preview episode of the new series Elizabeth the First – about the remarkable life of Elizabeth Taylor. In our preview, we hear how Elizabeth Taylor’s career takes off, and she finds herself navigating a patriarchal movie studio system determined to own her every move… until she seizes the moment to take control. It was a time of great promise. Then, tragedy strikes. Headline News says ‘I love Elizabeth the Fir...

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Wondery Presents: Frozen Head

January 23, 2023 • 5 mins

Hosted by Ash Kelley and Alaina Urquhart from the hit show Morbid. When 90-year-old Laurence Pilgeram drops dead on the sidewalk outside his condo, you might think that’s the end of his story. But, really, it’s just the beginning. Because Laurence and others like him have signed up to be frozen and brought back to life in the future. And that belief will pull multiple generations of the Pilgeram family into a cryonics soap opera f...

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Cover Up: Ministry of Secrets

March 6, 2023 • 5 mins

Cover Up is a series of investigative stories that take us on a journey into a world of subterfuge and secrecy - a world where the truth is concealed under a blanket of lies. From corrupt individuals to clandestine institutions, Cover Up exposes deceit, deception and the abuse of power. Season one uncovers the story of The Ministry of Secrets, one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Cold War. At its heart is a missing person —...

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THE LOST MEMOIR OF GARRETT TRAPNELL

October 7, 2025 • 43 mins

A few years after the podcast’s release, the producers of American Skyjacker receive an email from a former television researcher, who had corresponded extensively with Martin McNally’s prison compatriot, fellow skyjacker Garrett Trapnell, while he was in prison. The correspondence led to the final on-camera interview the infamous convict ever did before he died in prison, for the ABC Network's true crime television series FBI: UNT...

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American Skyjacker: The Final Flight of Martin McNally

Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Trailer: American Skyjacker

.css-r6mb8g{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:1;overflow:hidden;}I Can Do That | Chapter 1

Gateway to the Sky | Chapter 2

Free, Fallin' | Chapter 3

Which Way Out | Chapter 4

Trap, The Fox | Chapter 5

The Writer, the Mother, and the Con | Chapter 6

The Legend of Allen Barklage | Chapter 7

Robyn’s Flight | Chapter 8

Hard Time | Chapter 9

Zihuatanejo | Chapter 10

Special Preview Episode: Elizabeth the First. Control.

Wondery Presents: Frozen Head

Cover Up: Ministry of Secrets

THE LOST MEMOIR OF GARRETT TRAPNELL

Popular Podcasts

Trailer: American Skyjacker

I Can Do That | Chapter 1