The 20-minute flight: the world's first airplane hijacking

The 20-minute flight: the world's first airplane hijacking

Nowadays, traveling by high-speed ferry between the port cities of Hong Kong and Macau takes about an hour. But from 1948 to 1961, when both regions were still colonies of European powers, wealthy tourists could also choose a short flight by plane.

The Miss Macao – a historic aircraft

Miss Macao was no beauty queen, but a Consolidated Model 28 Catalina seaplane that carried travelers from Portuguese-controlled Macao to British-controlled Hong Kong — a route that could be completed in just 20 minutes. These flights were known as “cigar flights” because the duration was approximately the same time it would take to smoke a cigarette — and smoking was allowed on board.

Air traffic between Hong Kong and Macao

Back then, flying was “like riding a bus,” says Dan Porat, a history professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Passengers who could afford it bought their tickets directly upon boarding, without prior booking. The Macau Air Transport Company, a now defunct subsidiary of Cathay Pacific, operated two of these Catalina “flying boats.” Due to the lack of airports in Macau, the planes were able to take off from coastal waters.

The incident of July 16, 1948

However, on July 16, 1948, Miss Macao did not arrive at Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport. Authorities in Hong Kong immediately sounded the alarm and police began searching the waters between the two cities.

The sole survivor, a 24-year-old Chinese rice farmer named Wong Yu, was rescued by a fisherman and taken to hospital in Macau. Berichten zufolge war ein Bein von Wong gebrochen und er trug eine Rettungsweste, die er sich während des Absturzes geschnappt hatte.

Although Wong described himself as an ordinary passenger and said the plane exploded in mid-air, contradictions in his story and his questionable behavior — including attempting to escape the hospital — led authorities and the press to a different explanation: Miss Macao had been ambushed by "sky pirates" and crashed into the sea.

Piracy in the air

On the day of her final flight, Miss Macao was manned by two pilots: American Captain Dale Cramer and Australian First Officer Ken McDuff, both former military aviators. In total, there were 27 people on board, including 24 passengers and a flight attendant, Delca da Costa, a Portuguese national from Macau who was also McDuff's girlfriend.

However, four of the passengers had no intention of traveling to Hong Kong. Wong confessed that he and three accomplices sold everything to buy the tickets, thinking the spoils from their crime would be worth it.

The kidnappers' plan

As historian Luis Andrade de Sa describes in his book “Aviation in Macau: One Hundred Years of Adventure,” the four hijackers quickly got down to business shortly after takeoff from Macau, with one storming into the cockpit and demanding that the pilots take control of the plane.

The lead hijacker, Chiu Tok, had taken wing lessons in Manila and planned to fly the plane once the pilots were overpowered. But he had not expected that Cramer would not relinquish control and that there would be resistance from the main cabin. While a passenger was wrestling with a hijacker, a shot was fired. McDuff hit Chiu Tok with an iron rod. The hijackers shot both pilots, and Cramer's body fell onto the plane's controls, causing the plane to crash into the South China Sea.

Clarifying the incident

Wong's survival was exposed as implausible given the later recovered wreckage of Miss Macao, which was riddled with bullet holes. Still, it was difficult to learn Wong's true story because he was in poor physical and psychological condition.

The police decided to bring undercover agents to the hospital to convince Wong to tell the truth about what happened on board Miss Macao. He ultimately confessed that the hijackers' plan was to take over the plane and fly it to a location in Guangdong province in southern China, where the passengers and crew would be robbed of their valuables and then held hostage. Nobody should die.

The consequences for the aviation industry

The hijacking of the Miss Macao was so novel that no one used the word “hijacking” in this context — the press called it “air piracy.” At that time there were no security checks such as scanning passengers with metal detectors. Only the most rudimentary security checks were carried out, with some luggage being opened and searched.

However, the kidnappers had prepared for this — they had tied their pistols to their legs with black tape, and the China Mail newspaper reported at the time that one of them was hiding firearms in the hollow sole of his shoe. Wong was ultimately deported from Macau to mainland China, where he died shortly thereafter at the age of 27 without standing trial for robbery, murder or piracy.

The development of aviation

The aviation industry flourished for the two former colonial cities in the following decades. Hong Kong grew into one of the world's largest aviation hubs, while Macau opened its international airport in 1995. Today there is a small exhibition at the airport about important aviation stories, including the hijacking of the Miss Macao.

The Evolution of Air Piracy

The story of the kidnapping from Hong Kong to Macau was quickly forgotten. Many in the then-fledgling commercial aviation industry viewed it as a one-off incident and believed that hijackings — or “skyjacking,” as it was then called — would not become commonplace. But the social unrest of the following years, as well as the growth and increasing affordability of air travel, led to change.

From 1968 to 1972, the industry experienced what became known as the “golden age of kidnapping,” as Brendan I. Koerner describes in his book “The Skies Belong to Us.” “There was a kidnapping every five and a half days,” explains Porat. “In this phase the industry is trying to develop.”

Safety measures and the future of flying

The events aboard Miss Macao were the starting point for many important changes in aviation. Although hijacking was not initially perceived as a serious problem, the increase in incidents led to airports becoming “miniature police states.” Security checks, including metal detectors and baggage X-ray systems, eventually became the norm to protect passengers and crew.

So what began in 1948 with the Miss Macao incident became a defining moment that transformed the entire aviation industry. 21st century hijackings and security precautions can be traced directly to the lessons learned from these early incidents.