Survivors 0 Registration VR-HFZ Survivor 0 Crew count 10 | Passengers 71 Aircraft type Convair CV-880-22M-21 Date 15 June 1972 Total fatalities 81 (all) Passenger count 71 | |
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Similar Japan Airlines Flight 446, Sterling Airways Flight 296, Japan Airlines Flight 471, Aeroflot Flight 217, Iberia Airlines Flight 602 | ||
Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z was a flight flown and operated by Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific that crashed on 15 June 1972.
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Flight
Flight 700Z originated from Singapore International Airport (Now Paya Lebar Air Base) and had a stopover at Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport, with the final destination being Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport.
While flying at 29000 ft (8,839 m) (FL290) over Pleiku, South Vietnam, a bomb placed inside a cosmetics case placed under a seat exploded, resulting in the aircraft's disintegration. All 71 passengers and 10 crew on the flight were killed.
Aftermath
Following a British Civil Aviation Department and Hong Kong police investigation, as well as 6 years of reporting by a Bangkok Post journalist, "a police officer whose fiancée and daughter were aboard was charged with the crime". Somchai Chaiyasut, who had taken out three travel insurance policies on his fiancee and daughter, was declared not guilty due to lack of evidence. He sued the insurance companies and received ฿5.5 million but died of cancer in 1985 after "airline staff and relatives [had considered] hiring a hitman to kill him".