Air Vietnam Flight 706

Air Vietnam Flight 706

Hijacking summary
Date	September 15, 1974
Type	Hijacking
Site	Phan Rang, South Vietnam
Passengers	67
Crew	8
Injuries	0
Fatalities	75 (all)
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	Boeing 727-121C
Operator	Air Vietnam
Tail number	XV-NJC
Flight origin	Da Nang Airport, Da Nang, South Vietnam
Destination	Saigon-Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Saigon, South Vietnam

Air Vietnam Flight 706 was a Boeing 727 which crashed on September 15, 1974 near Phan Rang Air Base in South Vietnam. After taking off from Danang in South Vietnam on a regularly scheduled flight for Saigon, the flight was hijacked by a man holding two grenades. He demanded to be flown to Hanoi in North Vietnam. For unknown reasons the pilots approached the airfield at Phan Rang but aborted the landing. The aircraft overshot the base leg and initiated a left turn, during which the aircraft lost control. Shortly after that, the airplane plunged to the ground from an altitude of 1,000 feet (300 m), killing all 75 people aboard. Even though the exact cause remains unclear, it has been speculated that the hijacker caused the crash by setting off his grenades after the pilots refused to give in to his demands.

See also

• Lists of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners
• Air safety

External links

• Hijacking description at the Aviation Safety Network