Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z
VR-HFZ, the aircraft involved in the bombing, in February 1972 | |
| Bombing | |
|---|---|
| Date | 15 June 1972 |
| Summary | Bombing |
| Site | Over Pleiku, South Vietnam (now Vietnam) |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Convair CV-880-22M-21 |
| Operator | Cathay Pacific |
| IATA flight No. | CX700Z |
| ICAO flight No. | CPA700Z |
| Call sign | CATHAY 700 ZULU |
| Registration | VR-HFZ |
| Flight origin | Singapore International Airport, Singapore |
| Stopover | Don Mueang International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand |
| Destination | Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong |
| Passengers | 71 |
| Crew | 10 |
| Fatalities | 81 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Cathay Pacific Flight 700Z was a flight from Singapore to Hong Kong operated by Cathay Pacific using a Convair CV-880 aircraft that crashed in Pleiku, then in South Vietnam on the afternoon of 15 June 1972, killing all 81 passengers and crew on board.
It remains the deadliest aviation incident involving a Convair CV-880. An investigation was carried out by officials from Great Britain, Cathay Pacific's parent company the Swire Group and the Hong Kong Police but efforts to retrieve wreckage and study the crash site were hampered by ongoing fighting in the region due to the Vietnam War. An inquiry later determined the crash to have been caused by an explosive device, likely located within the passenger cabin. A Thai national was arrested as a suspect in the bombing but later acquitted at trial.