China Airlines Flight 831 was a scheduled passenger flight from Kaohsiung in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

to British Hong Kong that was hijacked on March 9, 1978.

Hijacking

The flight, operated by a Boeing 737-281 registered as B-1870, departed at 16:08 local time and was uneventful until 17:00, when one of the crew members, 34-year-old Shi Mingzhen, broke into the cockpit and demanded the pilots to fly to

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

. Captain Gao Zhixian and First Officer Gong Zhongkang (both former Republic of China Air Force pilots) refused the demands and were beaten by Shi. Despite having injuries from the beating, the pilots managed to order an on-board security guard to the cockpit. The guard broke down the cockpit door using a

fire extinguisher A fire extinguisher is a handheld active fire protection device usually filled with a dry or wet chemical used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergencies. It is not intended for use on an out-of-control fire, such as one which ha ...

, shot and killed the hijacker. The flight landed at

Kai Tak Airport Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply Ka ...

at 17:20, after which the Airport Security Unit searched the aircraft for potential accomplices and questioned passengers. The pilots were then taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital due to their injuries.

Aftermath

The aircraft involved later crashed as Flight 2265 near

Penghu Airport Penghu Airport , formerly Magong Airport (), is a domestic airport in Huxi, Penghu County, Taiwan. With 2,380,265 passengers in 2017, it is the fifth-busiest airport in Taiwan, The ROC Air Force also has Magong Air Base here. History Penghu ...

, killing all 13 people on board.

References

{{China Airlines Aviation accidents and incidents in 1978 1978 in Taiwan China Airlines accidents and incidents Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 737 Original Aviation accidents and incidents in Hong Kong Airliner accidents and incidents caused by hijacking 1978 in Hong Kong