Narrative:A Taiwanese man hijacked a Far East Air Transport Boeing 757 aircraft to Xiamen, China. The lone hijacker doused himself with gasoline and demanded to be flown to China. The hijacker reportedly told the pilot that he was a victim of political repression and wanted political asylum. The aircraft landed safely less than two hours later in Xiamen. The hijacker was taken into custody by Chinese authorities upon the planes arrival in Xiamen.
The hijacker, a former journalist, reportedly had been fired from his job at a Taiwanese newspaper in 1996 for disciplinary problems.
Classification:
Hijack
Sources:
» Criminal Acts Against Civil Aviation 1997 / 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 Kaohsiung International Airport to Taipei-Songshan Airport as the crow flies is 301 km (188 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.