ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-880-22M-21 VR-HFZ Pleiku
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Thursday 15 June 1972
Time:05:59 UTC
Type:Silhouette image of generic cv88 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Convair CV-880-22M-21
Operator:Cathay Pacific Airways
Registration: VR-HFZ
MSN: 22-7-1-53
First flight: 1961
Total airframe hrs:29434
Crew:Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 10
Passengers:Fatalities: 71 / Occupants: 71
Total:Fatalities: 81 / Occupants: 81
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:55 km (34.4 mls) SE of Pleiku (   Vietnam)
Phase: En route (ENR)
Nature:International Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Bangkok-Don Muang International Airport (BKK/VTBD), Thailand
Destination airport:Hong Kong-Kai Tak International Airport (HKG/VHHH), Hong Kong
Flightnumber: 700Z
Narrative:
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 fiancée and daughter were aboard was charged with the crime.

Probable Cause:

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The aircraft broke up in the air and caught fire following the detonation of a high explosive device within the passenger cabin."

Classification:
Sabotage
Loss of control

Sources:
» Aircraft hijackings and other criminal acts against civil aviation : statistics and narrative reports / FAA
» ICAO Accident Digest Circular 118-AN/88 (122-130)


Photos

photo of Convair-CV-880-22M-21-VR-HFZ
accident date: 15-06-1972
type: Convair CV-880-22M-21
registration: VR-HFZ
 

Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Bangkok-Don Muang International Airport to Hong Kong-Kai Tak International Airport as the crow flies is 1703 km (1064 miles).
Accident location: Global; accuracy within tens or hundreds of kilometers.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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Convair CV-880

  • 65 built
  • 8th loss
  • 6th fatal accident
  • The worst accident
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 Vietnam
  • 4th worst accident (at the time)
  • 5th worst accident (currently)
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