Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z bombing

Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z
Bombing summary
A similar aircraft registered VR-HGG
Date	15 June 1972
Summary	Aviation bombing
Site	Over Pleiku, South Vietnam
Passengers	71
Crew	10
Fatalities	81 (all)
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	Convair CV-880-22M-21
Operator	Cathay Pacific
Registration	VR-HFZ
Flight origin	Singapore International Airport^[1] Singapore
Stopover	Don Mueang International Airport, Bangkok Thailand
Destination	Kai Tak Airport Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z was a flight flown and operated by Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific that crashed on 15 June 1972.

Flight

Flight 700Z originated from Singapore International Airport^[1] (Now Paya Lebar Air Base) and had a stopover at Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport, with the final destination being Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport.

While flying at 29000 ft (8,839 m) (FL290) over Pleiku, South Vietnam, a bomb placed inside a cosmetics case placed under a seat exploded, resulting in the aircraft's disintegration. All 71 passengers and 10 crew on the flight were killed.

Aftermath

Following a British Civil Aviation Department and Hong Kong police investigation, as well as 6 years of reporting by a Bangkok Post journalist,^[2] "a police officer whose fiancée and daughter were aboard was charged with the crime".^[3] Somchai Chaiyasut, who had taken out three travel insurance policies on his fiancee and daughter, was declared not guilty due to lack of evidence.^[4] He sued the insurance companies and received ฿5.5 million but died of cancer in 1985 after "airline staff and relatives [had considered] hiring a hitman to kill him".^[2]

References

1 2 Some sources state the flight's origin as Changi Airport, but since Changi Airport opened in 1981, this is not possible. Singapore's international airport at the time is now the Paya Lebar Air Base.
1 2 McBeth, J. (2011), Reporter. Forty Years Covering Asia, Talisman Publishing, Singapore, p. 34., ISBN 9789810873646
↑ Criminal Occurrence description at the Aviation Safety Network
↑ Accident synopsis at airdisaster.com

← 1971
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1972 (1972)
1973 →

Jan 7 Iberia Airlines Flight 602
Jan 26 JAT Yugoslav Flight 367
Feb 22–23 Lufthansa Flight 649
Mar 3 Mohawk Airlines Flight 405
Mar 14 Sterling Airways Flight 296
Mar 19 EgyptAir Flight 763
May 5 Alitalia Flight 112
May 8 Sabena Flight 571
May 18 Aeroflot Flight 1491
May 30 Delta Air Lines Flight 9570
Jun 12 American Airlines Flight 96
Jun 14 Japan Airlines Flight 471
Jun 15 Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z
Jun 18 British European Airways Flight 548
Jun 24 Prinair Flight 191
Jun 29 Lake Winnebago mid-air collision
Jul 31 Delta Air Lines Flight 841
Aug 14 Königs Wusterhausen disaster
Aug 16 Burma Airways Thandwe crash
Sep 15 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 130
Sep 24 Japan Airlines Flight 472
Sep 24 Sacramento Canadair Sabre accident
Oct 13 Aeroflot Flight 217
Oct 13-Dec 23 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571
Oct 29 Lufthansa Flight 615
Nov 10 Southern Airways Flight 49
Nov 15 Ansett Airlines Flight 232
Nov 28 Japan Airlines Flight 446
Dec 3 Spantax Flight 275
Dec 8 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 708
Dec 8 Pakistan International Airlines Flight 631
Dec 8 United Airlines Flight 553
Dec 20 Chicago-O'Hare runway collision
Dec 23 Braathens Flight 239
Dec 29 Eastern Air Lines Flight 401
Dec 31 1972 Puerto Rico DC-7 crash

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