Vietnam Civil Aviation Flight 501

On June 28, 1978, Vietnam Civil Aviation Flight 501, departing from Da Nang International Airport to Phung Duc Airport, Buon Ma Thuot, Dak Lak Province, was hijacked by four men armed with Makarov pistols, knives and grenades. The hijackers engaged in a gunfight with the crew and security personnel. During the gunfight, three of the four hijackers were killed by exploding grenades and fell from the plane, while the remaining hijacker was captured. The plane was written off a few months after the hijacking.^[1]

This was the second hijacking of a Vietnam Airlines plane (after Vietnam Civil Aviation Flight 509 hijacking) and is considered one of the bloodiest hijackings to occur in Vietnam.

The aircraft involved in the incident, VN-C501, msn 42925, was first put into service in 1946 by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines with registration number PH-TAP. The aircraft was transferred to Air Algérie and Air France before being transferred to Air Vietnam in February 1974 with registration number XV-NUO. After the Fall of Saigon, the aircraft was transferred to Vietnam Civil Aviation for use.^[2] The aircraft uses four Pratt & Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasp engines.

A group of four men^{[nb 1]}, armed with grenades, knives, and pistols, hijacked the aircraft while the flight was over Tam Ky airspace. A security officer was disarmed by the four hijackers, who then threatened two female attendants, forcing them to order the cockpit to open. However, the attendants and security personnel resisted. The hijackers violently assaulted them, stabbed one, shot and seriously injured two others.

The flight crew, included captain Pham Trung Nam, radioed Da Nang Airport, requesting an emergency landing. When threats failed, the hijackers opened fire directly into the cockpit. The cockpit crew fired back, injuring one hijacker. As the plane returned to Da Nang airspace and descended for landing, two hijackers, realizing their plan had failed, detonated grenades in an attempt to destroy the plane. One died on the spot, several were injured, and the plane sustained severe damage. The hijackers panicked. As the aircraft passed over the Cam Le River, two of them broke the rear door and jumped out, both dying near the Cam Le Bridge. The last hijacker refused to surrender, continued shooting into the cockpit and engine until his ammunition ran out, then jumped and died on the Da Nang Airport runway.^[4]

On October 4, 1978, a military court in Da Nang sentenced the mastermind of the hijacking to death. The remaining accomplices were sentenced to between two and eight years in prison. The plane was repaired, but crashed and was written off a few months later while on a rice aid flight to Champasak, Laos.^[4]

A film based on the hijacking, "Hijacked" (Vietnamese: Tử Chiến Trên Không), produced by director Ham Tran, in collaboration with Galaxy Play, released in 2025.^[5]