Miss Macao

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Miss Macao was a Catalina seaplane, owned and operated by Cathay Pacific. On 16 June 1948 she became the victim of one of the first air hijackings.

The Miss Macao was on a routine flight from Macau to Hong Kong. She was hijacked a few minutes after take off by three men, carrying guns, one of who demanded that the pilot surrender the controls. The pilot refused and was shot. As the pilot collapsed onto the flight controls the plane went into an uncontrolled dive and crashed into the sea. 26 of the 27 people aboard died in the crash, the only survivor being the leader of the hijackers. The motives of the hijackers aren't known for sure. They may have been Chinese bandits, with an economic rather than political motive.

Sources

[AirOdyssey] (Note: this gives the date as July 16.)
[Aviation Safety Network] (Note: this also gives the date as July 16.)
[Rotten.com]

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