Date: 2 October 1990

Location: Guangzhou, P.R. China

Type of event: terrorism

Description:

A Chinese Boeing 737 was hijacked and crashed during landing in Guangzhou (Canton), PRC, about 9:15 AM. During a flight from Xiamen to Guangzhou, a young man claimed to have explosives and demanded the pilot fly to the Republic of China (Taiwan), clearing the other flight crew from the cockpit. The pilot circled the Baiyin airport near Guangzhou, failing to convince the hijacker that fuel was insufficient to reach the ROC. Apparently as the pilot finally attempted an emergency landing at Baiyin, the hijacked wrestled for control of the aircraft. Upon touching down the 737 swerved into two other aircraft on the ground, a Boeing 707 and a Boeing 757, both China Southwest Airlines. The 737 overturned, killing 84 of 104 aboard; another 48 were killed on the 757. Those killed included 30 from the Republic of China. A total of 49 were injured.

Consequences: 132 killed, 49 injured

References:

• "Accident Database," PlaneCrashInfo.com, on line [http://www.planecrashinfo.com/database.htm].
• Mickolus, Edward F., and Susan L. Simmons, Terrorism, 1992-1995: A Chronology of Events and a Selectively Annotated Bibliography, 1997, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT).
• The New York Times, 3 Oct. 1990, p. A 3:1.

© 2017 by Wm. Robert Johnston.
Last modified 26 November 2017.
Return to Home. Return to Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Unconventional Warfare.