View source for Miss Macao

{{Short description|Hong Kong commercial seaplane; hijacked by pirates in 1948}}
{{redirect|Wong Yu|the actor|Wong Yue}}
{{for|the beauty pageant title|Miss Macau}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
|occurrence_type = Hijacking
|name = ''Miss Macao''
|date = 16 July 1948<ref name="SCMP">{{cite news|title=Flight of no return: How a Cathay Pacific plane became the first hijacked commercial airliner |url=http://www.scmp.com/article/645928/flight-no-return |last=Footer|first= Mark|newspaper=South China Morning Post |date=20 July 2008|accessdate=15 October 2016 }}</ref>
|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<ref name="Syd"/>
|crew = 3<ref name="Syd"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Catalina – Aviation's first act of armed piracy |url=http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/60421-pbys-5.html |date=1 August 2002 |accessdate=15 May 2010}}</ref>
|injuries = 1
|fatalities = 25
|survivors = 1 {{small|(lead hijacker)}}
|aircraft_type = [[Consolidated PBY Catalina|Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina]]
|tail_number = VR-HDT
|operator = [[Macau Air Transport Company]]<br>([[Cathay Pacific]] subsidiary)
}}
{{Chinese|order=ts
|t=澳門小姐
|s=澳门小姐
|j=ou3 mun4*2 siu2 ze2
|sl=O<sup>3</sup> Moon<sup>4</sup> Siu<sup>2</sup> Je<sup>2</sup>
|p=Àomén xiǎojie
|w=Ao-men Hsiao-chieh
}}
'''''Miss Macao''''' ({{zh|first=t,j|t=澳門小姐|sl=O<sup>3</sup> Moon<sup>4</sup> Siu<sup>2</sup> Je<sup>2</sup>}}) was a [[Consolidated PBY Catalina|Catalina]] [[seaplane]] owned by [[Cathay Pacific]] and operated by subsidiary [[Macau Air Transport Company]]. On 16 July 1948 it was involved in the first [[Aircraft hijacking|hijacking]] of a commercial aircraft.<ref name="Syd">{{Cite book|title= Syd's Pirates – A Story of an Airline: Cathay Pacific Airways |last= Eather |first= Charles   |year= 1983 |publisher= Durnmount |location= Australia  |isbn= 978-0-949756-05-3 |url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/361759 }}</ref> [[Piracy]] for robbery and [[ransom]] was the motive.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.macaubusiness.com/news/features/flights-of-fancy.html |title=Flights of fancy ''Issue 10'' |date=1 November 2008 |accessdate=15 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808100535/http://www.macaubusiness.com/news/features/flights-of-fancy.html |archivedate=8 August 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,794449,00.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184444/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,794449,00.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 30 September 2007 |title= Pilots & Pirates   |date= 9 September 1948   |magazine= [[Time (magazine)|Time]] |accessdate=15 May 2010}} "Since piracy laws don't yet cover air piracy, he will probably be charged with simple murder."
</ref> 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 ({{zh|first=t,j|t=黃裕|s=黄裕|p=Huáng Yù|sl=Wong<sup>4</sup> Yue<sup>6</sup>|labels=no}}), 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/May-June-08/On-this-Day--The-First-Commercial-Flight-is-Hijacked.html |title=On This Day: First Commercial Flight Hijacked |date=16 July 2010 |accessdate=24 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103075904/http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/May-June-08/On-this-Day--The-First-Commercial-Flight-is-Hijacked.html |archivedate=3 January 2012 }}</ref> He was brought to court by the [[Public Security Police Force of Macau|Macau police]], but the Macau court suggested that the prosecution should be brought in [[British Hong Kong|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 [[Correctional Services Bureau|Macao Central Prison]] on 11 June 1951, and was then deported to [[China]].<ref name="SCMP"/>

== See also ==
{{portal|Hong Kong|China|Aviation}}
*[[1933 Imperial Airways Diksmuide crash]], the first act of in-flight airline sabotage
*[[List of sole survivors of airline accidents or incidents]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in China}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1948}}

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[[Category:History of Macau]]
[[Category:Aircraft hijackings in China]]
[[Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by hijacking]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in China]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1948]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Consolidated PBY Catalina]]
[[Category:Mass murder in 1948]]
[[Category:1948 in China]]
[[Category:20th century in Guangdong]]
[[Category:Individual aircraft]]
[[Category:July 1948 in Asia]]