Miss Macao

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Miss Macao
Hijacking summary
Date July 16, 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 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, Hanyu Pinyin: Huáng Yù, Cantonese: 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 June 11, 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

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Arthur Hacker. "'Cathay Pacific Airways PBY Catalina amphibious aircraft Miss Macao ashore at Kai Tak Airport.'". Retrieved 2010-05-15. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Eather, Charles (1983). Syd's Pirates - A Story of an Airline: Cathay Pacific Airways. Australia: Durnmount. ISBN 978-0-949756-05-3. 
  3. ↑ "Catalina - Aviation's first act of armed piracy". 2002-08-01. Retrieved 2010-05-15. 
  4. ↑ "Flights of fancy Issue 10". 2008-11-01. Retrieved 2010-05-15. 
  5. ↑ "Pilots & Pirates". Time Inc. 1948-09-09. Retrieved 2010-05-15.  "Since piracy laws don't yet cover air piracy, he will probably be charged with simple murder."
  6. ↑ "On This Day: First Commercial Flight Hijacked". 2010-07-16. Retrieved 2013-03-24. 


  • ← 1947
  • Aviation accidents and incidents in 1948 (1948)
  • 1949 →
  • Incidents resulting in at least 50 deaths shown in italics  
  •   Deadliest incident shown in Bold SmallCaps

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