Narrative:A man claiming to have a gasoline bomb hijacked Phoenix Airways Flight 506 and demanded transit to Cuba. The hijacking took place shortly after the Boeing 727-023 aircraft departed Cape Town en route to Johannesburg.
The pilot returned to Cape Town after telling the hijacker that maps and additional fuel were needed to fly the 7,000 miles to Cuba. Shortly after the plane landed, crew members overpowered the hijacker and seized his bag, and he was taken into custody. The hijacker's "incendiary device" was a bottle in a paper bag.
Classification:
Hijack
Sources:
» Criminal Acts Against Civil Aviation 1995 / U.S. Department of Transport, FAA, Office of Civil Aviation Security
Photos
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 Cape Town International Airport to Johannesburg International Airport as the crow flies is 1267 km (792 miles).
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.