Video: 'Iran Hostage Crisis: Release of 52 Hostages in 1981 (ABC News Report From 1/20/1981)'

(Tuesday, January 20, 1981, 8:55 p.m. Iran Standard Time/12:25 p.m. EST) — The Iran hostage crisis, a diplomatic standoff between the United States and Iran in which 52 American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for 444 days, ended today only 25 minutes after Jimmy Carter’s term as the 39th President of the United States had ended.

Video: 'This Day in History: Iran Hostage Crisis Ends'

Carter had hoped that the hostages would be allowed to leave while he was still in office, and at 6:18 a.m. Washington time, the escrow papers were completed to transfer $7,970,000,000 in Iranian assets from U.S. banks to the Bank of England.

Video: 'Iranian hostages arrive in Germany Jan 21, 1981 Part 1'

At 4:34 p.m. IRST/8:04 a.m. EST, the Algerian intermediaries notified both the U.S. and Iran that the transfer was complete. The Boeing 727 carrying the hostages, Air Algérie Flight 133, was boarded at 8:20 p.m. IRST/11:50 a.m. EST but was not cleared for takeoff.

Video: 'Iranian hostages arrive in Germany Jan 21, 1981 Part 2'

At 8:30 p.m. IRST/noon EST, Ronald Reagan was sworn into office as the 40th president of the United States and the Air Algérie jet departed Mehrabad International Airport at 8:55 p.m. IRST/12:25 p.m. EST just minutes after, half a world away, Reagan finished his inaugural speech.

Video: 'ABC News - America Held Hostage: The Iran Crisis'

The plane carrying the hostages left Iranian airspace within an hour, landing in Athens for refueling, then arriving at Algiers at 2:10 a.m. Western European Time/9:10 p.m. EST, where the former hostages were transferred to two Medevac planes and flown to Wiesbaden Army Airfield in West Germany.