1990 Guangzhou Baiyun airport collisions

Coordinates: 23°11′14″N 113°16′05″E / 23.1872°N 113.2680°E / 23.1872; 113.2680
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Guangzhou Baiyun aircraft collisions
Xiamen Airlines Flight 8301 · China Southern Airlines Flight 3523 · China Southwest Airlines Flight 4305
Shanghai Hongqiao Airport
Occupants122
Passengers110
Crew12
Fatalities46
Injuries34
Survivors76
Third aircraft

B-2402, the China Southwest Airlines Boeing 707 involved in the collisions, taken in 1983
TypeBoeing 707-3J6B
OperatorChina Southwest Airlines
IATA flight No.SZ4305
ICAO flight No.CXN4305
Call signCHINA SOUTHWEST 4305
RegistrationB-2402
Flight originChengdu Shuangliu Airport
DestinationFormer Guangzhou Baiyun
International Airport
Occupants1
Passengers0
Crew1
Fatalities0
Injuries1
Survivors1

On 2 October 1990, a hijacked Boeing 737, operating Xiamen Airlines Flight 8301, collided with two other aircraft on the runways of the old Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport while attempting to land. The hijacked aircraft struck parked China Southwest Airlines Flight 4305 first, inflicting only minor damage, but then collided with China Southern Airlines Flight 3523, a Boeing 757 waiting to take off, flipping onto its back. A total of 128 people were killed, including seven of nine crew members and 75 of 93 passengers on Flight 8301 and 46 of 110 passengers on Flight 3523.

Hijacking of Flight 8301

Xiamen Airlines
Flight 8301,
political asylum
in Taiwan.

Prior to the hijacking and shortly after the aircraft took off from

Moon Festival gift. The article stated that reportedly, once in the cockpit, he opened his jacket to reveal what appeared to be explosives strapped to his chest. The article added that Jiang ordered all crew members out of the cockpit, except for the pilot,[4] Cen Longyu,[2] whom he directed to fly to Taipei, Taiwan. The pilot did not comply, instead continuing toward the original destination of Guangzhou. Reports from the official Xinhua News Agency did not explain why the pilot did not accede to Jiang's demand.[5]

Communication with the flight was lost. It was finally re-established by the airport in Guangzhou, which authorized the pilot to land at any airport available, inside or outside the PRC. The pilot stated that the only other airport that the aircraft still had sufficient fuel to reach was Hong Kong. Guangzhou flight controllers agreed to allow the plane to land in Hong Kong, refuel, and proceed to Taipei. Jiang refused to allow this, and threatened to blow up the aircraft if it landed in Hong Kong. The pilot circled Guangzhou, attempting to reason with Jiang. He was eventually forced to land the plane when it ran dangerously low on fuel.[2]

Landing and collisions

Moments before landing, Jiang managed to wrestle control of the aircraft from the pilot. The 737 landed at an excessive speed, and sideswiped a parked China Southwest Airlines

Boeing 707-3J6B which had just arrived from Chengdu as China Southwest Airlines Flight 4305, slightly injuring the pilot, who was in the cockpit at the time.[6] Still unable to stop, the out-of-control 737 collided with China Southern Airlines Flight 3523,[7] a Boeing 757[8] waiting to depart to Shanghai, before flipping over onto its back and skidding to a halt.[9]

On the Xiamen Airlines 737, seven of the nine crew members and 75 (including 30 Taiwanese, three people from Hong Kong and one American) of the 93 passengers died.[1] On the China Southern 757 aircraft all 12 crew members survived and 46 of 110 passengers died.[8] Of the passengers who died in the 757, eight were from Taiwan.[10] A total of 128 people died in the disaster,[5] including Jiang, the hijacker of the Xiamen Airlines aircraft.[4]

The hijacker

Jiang was once arrested for theft in September 1988. While working as a purchasing agent in 1990, he fled on 13 July with RMB 17,000 which was given to him for purchasing goods for his company. He was wanted by the police at the time of the hijacking.[3]

Two months earlier, on 29 September, Jiang checked-in at a hotel near the Xiamen borders. The next day, he booked a seat on the flight he would go on to hijack. Jiang checked out of the hotel around 6 a.m. on the morning of 2 October and headed to the airport. He was seen wearing a black suit and black dress shoes, carrying a black suitcase, and holding plastic roses. Jiang was the last to board the plane. He was sitting at seat 16D.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^
    Aviation Safety Network
  2. ^ a b c "Lessons Learned from Hijacking" (PDF). Flight Safety Digest. Flight Safety Foundation. December 1990. p. 13. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  3. ^ a b 周益 朱林 (2009-06-12). 白云机场"10·2"特大空难揭秘 ["10·2" Extraordinary Air Accident at Baiyun Airport Revealed]. 周末 (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
  4. ^
    TIME. 15 October 1990. Archived from the original
    on October 23, 2012. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
  5. ^ from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved November 24, 2009.
  6. Aviation Safety Network
  7. ^ "广州10.2空难回顾" [Guangzhou 10.2 air crash review] (in Chinese). Guangzhou Daily. 2015-02-04. Archived from the original on 2019-02-04. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
  8. ^
    Aviation Safety Network
  9. from the original on 14 August 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
  10. ^ FCJ Editors. "Relatives Bring Ashes Home In Sorrow, Anger" (Archive). Taiwan Journal. 15 October 1990. [dead link]
  11. ^ "1990年厦航客机空难揭秘 客机遭劫撞毁空姐玉殒" [The secret of the 1990 Xiamen Airlines passenger plane crash revealed. The passenger plane was hijacked and crashed and the flight attendant Yu died]. www.fjsen.com (in Chinese). 2009-06-08. Archived from the original on 2014-08-31. Retrieved 2021-06-17.

External links