Air Vietnam Flight 706
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Summary | |
---|---|
Date | September 15, 1974 |
Type | Hijacking |
Site | Phan Rang, Vietnam |
Fatalities | 75 |
Injuries | 0 |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Boeing 727-121C |
Operator | Air Vietnam |
Tail number | XV-NJC |
Passengers | 67 |
Crew | 8 |
Survivors | 0 |
Air Vietnam Flight 706 was a Boeing 727 which crashed on September 15, 1974 near Phan Rang Air Base. After taking off from Danang in South Vietnam on a regularly scheduled flight for Saigon, the flight was hijacked by a man holding two grenades. He demanded to be flown to Hanoi in North Vietnam. For unknown reasons the pilots approached the airfield at Phan Rang but aborted the landing. Shortly after that, the airplane plunged to the ground from an altitude of 1000 feet, killing all 75 people aboard. Even though the exact cause remains unclear, it has been speculated that the hijacker caused the crash by setting off his grenades after the pilots refused to give in to his demands.