Bonnie Smith Culp was a 1964 graduate of North Stanly High School. In March 1969 she completed her training to become a flight attendant with Eastern Airlines. On Nov. 13, 1970, Bonnie was serving as junior stewardess on Flight 257 from Richmond, Virginia to Atlanta. After a stop in Raleigh, a passenger went back to the senior stewardess and instructed her to take him to the cockpit. Once they entered the cockpit, the pilot announced the plane was being hijacked and that they would be heading to Cuba. The plane, loaded with 78 passengers and four crew members, stopped in Jacksonville, Florida for refueling. The hijacker held the pilot at gunpoint while they waited for the refueling to be completed. The plane arrived in Havana, Cuba just before noon and the hijacker immediately left. Local authorities took pictures of everyone on the plane and some of the passengers and crew were interrogated. The plane was then allowed to leave at 5:31 p.m. and it returned to the United States where it landed in Miami. {Lewis Bramlett – Stanly County Historical Society}