Accused 1968 Cuba hijacker surrenders in NY

The exhaust from the engines of a commercial aircraft create the illusion of a solar flare as it flies in front of the sun in Wilmington, Delaware, May 18, 2007.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A fugitive who avoided prosecution for more than four decades after hijacking a 1968 Pan American flight to Cuba voluntarily returned to the United States and surrendered, officials said on Monday.

Luis Armando Pena Soltren, 66, was set to appear in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday to face kidnapping and aircraft piracy charges stemming from his involvement in the hijacking of a Pan Am flight that left John F. Kennedy International Airport bound for Puerto Rico on November 24, 1968.

Soltren, a U.S. citizen who has lived in Cuba for 41 years, surrendered to authorities at the same New York airport on Sunday, knowing he would be arrested, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

The statement said the Cuban government authorized Soltren's departure. An FBI spokesman told The New York Times Soltren wanted to return to see his wife and other family members who live in either Puerto Rico or Florida.

"As the 1968 charges allege, he terrorized dozens of passengers when he and his cohorts wielded pistols and knives to hijack Pan American flight 281," said Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Last month Bharara requested Soltren's case be reactivated, saying in court documents that "the government believes that the defendant will be returning to the United States shortly."

In the 1960s and early 1970s, dozens of U.S. planes were hijacked to Cuba as the Cold War with Cuban leader Fidel Castro intensified. Some hijacked the planes to make political statements, while others sought asylum or ransom payments from the U.S. government.

Soltren's motive was unknown. Two of his accomplices, Jose Rafael Rios Cruz and Miguel Castro, were arrested in the mid-1970s and sentenced to 15 years and 12 years in prison respectively, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

A fourth man was described as a leader of the Puerto Rican Liberation Movement and participated in the plot but did not board the plane, according to the complaint. He was acquitted of charges in 1969.

Soltren faces charges of kidnapping, aircraft piracy, interference with flight crew members and conspiracy to commit air piracy and kidnapping. Although the charges could carry a sentence of life in prison, a deal with prosecutors could result in a lesser sentence.

An attorney for Soltren had yet to be appointed.

An FBI spokesman said he could not comment on why Soltren returned to the United States.

(Reporting by Christine Kearney, editing by Ellen Wulfhorst)