Incident Overview

Date: Thursday 15 June 1972
Aircraft Type: Convair CV-880-22M-21
Owner/operator: Cathay Pacific Airways
Registration Number: VR-HFZ
Location: 55 km SE of Pleiku – ÿ Vietnam
Phase of Flight: En route
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 81 / Occupants: 81
Component Affected: Passenger cabin, fuselage, stabilizers, wing rootPassenger cabin, fuselage, stabilizers, wing root
Category: Unlawful Interference
Cathay Pacific Flight CX 700Z experienced a catastrophic loss of control and subsequent crash after a high explosive device detonated within the passenger cabin. The aircraft broke up in the air, resulting in significant damage to the fuselage, stabilizers, and wing root.Cathay Pacific Flight CX 700Z experienced a catastrophic loss of control and subsequent crash after a high explosive device detonated within the passenger cabin. The aircraft broke up in the air, resulting in significant damage to the fuselage, stabilizers, and wing root.

Description

Cathay Pacific Flight CX 700Z took off from Bangkok (BKK) at 04:55 UTC bound for Hong Kong (HKG). The flight proceeded normally along airway Green 67 at a cruise altitude of FL290, maintaining routine radio contact first with Bangkok ACC and from 05:42 with Saigon ACC. At 05:59 a high explosive device detonated within the passenger cabin centre section area. Some passengers’ seats were ejected through a hole in the fuselage. Portions of the fuselage and possibly some seats struck the vertical and horizontal stabilizers, causing severe damage. Simultaneously the floor of the cabin, centre fuselage section, and starboard wing root were disrupted. The CV-880 lost control, entered a high-speed descent and broke up. The aircraft crashed in a jungle area, lightly wooded with small trees. It appeared that the explosive device was hidden in a suitcase under a passenger seat on the right side near the wing. A police officer whose fianc‚e and daughter were aboard was charged with the crime. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The aircraft broke up in the air and caught fire following the detonation of a high explosive device within the passenger cabin.”

Primary Cause

High explosive device detonation within the passenger cabin.High explosive device detonation within the passenger cabin.

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