Miss Macao
| Hijacking summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 16 July 1948[1] |
| Summary | Hijacking resulting in crash, robbery |
| Site | Jiuzhou Yang (Pearl River Delta) |
| Passengers | 23[2] |
| Crew | 3[2][3] |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 1 |
| Fatalities | 25 |
| Survivors | 1 (lead hijacker) |
| Aircraft type | Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina |
| Operator |
Macau Air Transport Company (Cathay Pacific subsidiary) |
| Registration | VR-HDT |
| Flight origin | Macau |
| Destination | Hong Kong |
Miss Macao was a Catalina seaplane owned by Cathay Pacific and operated by a subsidiary. On 16 July 1948 she became the victim of the first hijacking of a commercial aircraft.[2] Piracy for robbery and ransom was the motive.[4][5]
The lone survivor, Huang Yu (Chinese: 黃裕; pinyin: Huáng Yù; Wade–Giles: Wong Yu), was the admitted leader of the hijacking plot, and survived by jumping out the emergency exit just before the crash.[6] He was brought to court by the Macau Police, but the Macau court suggested that the prosecution should be brought in Hong Kong instead, since the plane was registered in Hong Kong and most of the passengers were from there. However, the British colonial government in Hong Kong stated that the incident happened over Chinese territory in which the British have no jurisdiction. Since no state claimed authority to try him, Huang was released without trial from Macau prison on 11 June 1951, and was then deported to China (by then the People's Republic of China).[1]
See also
- List of sole survivors of aviation accidents or incidents
- 1933 Imperial Airways Diksmuide crash, the first act of in-flight airline sabotage
References
- 1 2 Arthur Hacker. "'Cathay Pacific Airways PBY Catalina amphibious aircraft Miss Macao ashore at Kai Tak Airport.'". Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
- 1 2 3 Eather, Charles (1983). Syd's Pirates – A Story of an Airline: Cathay Pacific Airways. Australia: Durnmount. ISBN 978-0-949756-05-3.
- ↑ "Catalina – Aviation's first act of armed piracy". 1 August 2002. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
- ↑ "Flights of fancy Issue 10". 1 November 2008. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
- ↑ "Pilots & Pirates". Time. 9 September 1948. Retrieved 15 May 2010. "Since piracy laws don't yet cover air piracy, he will probably be charged with simple murder."
- ↑ "On This Day: First Commercial Flight Hijacked". 16 July 2010. Archived from the original on 3 January 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
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<!Approximate location--> Coordinates: 22°10′55″N 113°44′38″E / 22.182°N 113.744°E