China Airlines Flight 334

China Airlines Flight 334

LX-ECV, the aircraft involved in the hijack, still operating for Cargolux two years before the incident
Hijacking summary
Date May 3, 1986 (1986-05-03)
Summary Hijacking
Site Guangzhou
Passengers 0
Crew 3
Fatalities 0
Aircraft type Boeing 747-200F
Operator China Airlines
Registration B-198
Flight origin Changi Airport, Singapore
Destination Chiang Kai-shek Airport, Taipei, Taiwan

China Airlines Flight 334 was a Boeing 747-200F freighter aircraft that was hijacked by pilot Wang Xijue on May 3, 1986 while en route to Bangkok, Thailand. Wang managed to subdue the two other crew members and changed course to land the 747 in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, where he defected. The incident forced the Chiang Ching-kuo government in Taiwan to reverse its Three Noes policy in regard to contacting the communist government in mainland China, and Chiang dispatched several delegates to Hong Kong to negotiate with mainland officials for the return of the aircraft and crew. The incident was credited as a catalyst in renewing cross-strait relations between mainland China and Taiwan.[1][2]

Aircraft

The aircraft was a Boeing 747-2R7F/SCD freighter,[note 1] registration B-198, built in September 1980 for another airline. The ROC Ministry of Transportation Civil Aviation Authority acquired the aircraft in June 1985 and then leased it to China Airlines. On 29 December 1991, the aircraft B-198 operating as China Airlines Flight 358, hit a hillside near Wanli, Taiwan after separation of its number three and four engines, killing all five crew on board.

Incident

The following times are all in the Beijing/Taipei/Hong Kong time zone (UTC+8).

May 3

Aftermath

By forcing the ROC (Taiwan) to communicate with PRC (China), Flight 334 was the first step in the thawing of relations. It effectively ended the Three Noes policy and ultimately led to the reunification of families across the straits a year later and has led to officially establishing the Three Links that were originally outlined in a 1979 PRC proposal by 2008. In 1987 the ROC officially ended martial law due to thawing relations and other global realities, like the declining influence of communist aligned parties like the Soviet Union.

See also

Notes

  1. The aircraft was a Boeing 747-200 model; Boeing assigns a unique code for each company that buys one of its aircraft, which was applied as a suffix to the model number at the time the aircraft was built, hence "747-2R7". This aircraft was a freighter with a large door in its side for loading cargo, hence "747-2R7F/SCD" for Freighter/Side Cargo Door.

References

  1. "Pilot lands in China, asks to defect" Chicago Tribune. May 4, 1986.
  2. 21年前劫机留谜团 王锡爵北京度晚年 联合早报, Nov 4, 2007
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