Miss Macao
Hong Kong commercial seaplane; hijacked by pirates in 1948
title: "Miss Macao" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["history-of-macau", "aircraft-hijackings-in-china", "airliner-accidents-and-incidents-caused-by-hijacking", "aviation-accidents-and-incidents-in-china", "aviation-accidents-and-incidents-in-1948", "accidents-and-incidents-involving-the-consolidated-pby-catalina", "1948-mass-murders", "1948-in-china", "20th-century-in-guangdong", "individual-aircraft", "july-1948-in-asia"] description: "Hong Kong commercial seaplane; hijacked by pirates in 1948" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Macao" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Hong Kong commercial seaplane; hijacked by pirates in 1948 ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox aircraft occurrence"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| occurrence_type | Hijacking |
| name | Miss Macao |
| date | 16 July 1948 |
| type | Hijacking resulting in crash, robbery |
| image | PBY-5A VP-61 Aleutians Mar 1943.jpg |
| caption | A Consolidated PBY Catalina similar to the accident aircraft |
| origin | Macau |
| destination | Hong Kong |
| site | Jiuzhou Yang (Pearl River Delta) just northeast of Green Island, Xiangzhou, Zhuhai |
| passengers | 23 |
| crew | 3 |
| injuries | 1 |
| fatalities | 25 |
| survivors | 1 (lead hijacker) |
| aircraft_type | Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina |
| tail_number | VR-HDT |
| operator | Macau Air Transport Company |
| (Cathay Pacific) | |
| :: |
|occurrence_type = Hijacking |name = Miss Macao |date = 16 July 1948 |type = Hijacking resulting in crash, robbery |image = PBY-5A VP-61 Aleutians Mar 1943.jpg |caption = A Consolidated PBY Catalina similar to the accident aircraft |origin = Macau |destination = Hong Kong |site = Jiuzhou Yang (Pearl River Delta) just northeast of Green Island, Xiangzhou, Zhuhai |passengers = 23 |crew = 3 |injuries = 1 |fatalities = 25 |survivors = 1 (lead hijacker) |aircraft_type = Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina |tail_number = VR-HDT |operator = Macau Air Transport Company (Cathay Pacific) |t=澳門小姐 |s=澳门小姐 |j=ou3 mun4*2 siu2 ze2 |sl=O3 Moon4 Siu2 Je2 |p=Àomén xiǎojie |w=Ao-men Hsiao-chieh Miss Macao () was a Catalina seaplane owned by Cathay Pacific and operated by subsidiary Macau Air Transport Company. On 16 July 1948 it was involved in the first hijacking of a commercial aircraft. Piracy for robbery and ransom was the motive. "Since piracy laws don't yet cover air piracy, he will probably be charged with simple murder." The aircraft crashed after the pilot was shot while resisting the attackers; 25 people died, including three hijackers, but one hijacker survived by jumping out of the airplane before impact.
The lone survivor, Wong Yu (), confessed to membership of the gang of four pirates who attempted the hijacking (then simply labelled "piracy"). The hijackers met with fierce resistance during which the pilot was shot, causing the aircraft to crash, but Wong Yu survived by jumping out the emergency exit just before the plane hit the water. The objective of the plot was to rob wealthy passengers and hold them for ransom. He was brought to court by the Macau police, but the Macau court suggested that the prosecution should be brought in Hong Kong instead, since the plane was registered in Hong Kong and most of the passengers were from there. However, the British colonial government in Hong Kong stated that the incident happened over Chinese territory in which the British had no jurisdiction. Since no state claimed authority to try him, Wong was released without trial from Macao Central Prison on 11 June 1951, and was then deported to China. Wong died soon after.
References
References
- Footer, Mark. (20 July 2008). "Flight of no return: How a Cathay Pacific plane became the first hijacked commercial airliner". South China Morning Post.
- (1 August 2002). "Catalina – Aviation's first act of armed piracy".
- Eather, Charles. (1983). "Syd's Pirates – A Story of an Airline: Cathay Pacific Airways". Durnmount.
- (1 November 2008). "Flights of fancy ''Issue 10''".
- (16 July 2010). "On This Day: First Commercial Flight Hijacked".
- (14 July 2025). "The 20-minute flight that became the world's first airplane hijacking". [[Cable News Network]].
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