Narrative:A Chinese man claiming to possess an explosive device attempted to hijack a China Eastern Airlines Airbus A300 during a domestic flight from Shanghai to Guangzhou. Thirty minutes after the plane took off, the hijacker emerged from the rear lavatory, blew a whistle, and told the flight attendant that he was hijacking the plane. The hijacker, carrying an unidentified item wrapped in newspaper that he claimed was a bomb, demanded to be flown to Taiwan. He then forced passengers sitting in the rear of the aircraft to move to the front so that he could see them all. The pilot ignored the hijacker's demand to be taken to Taiwan and landed at Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. As the flight was landing, two security staff members overpowered the hijacker. None of the 105 passengers aboard the flight were injured, and the hijacker was arrested by police upon arrival in Hangzhou.
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 Shanghai-Hongqiao Airport to Guangzhou-Baiyun Airport as the crow flies is 1188 km (742 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.